Soulmates
by Joshua The Evil Guy
Summary: OUAT-Xena crossover. Regina is poisoned by Zelena after her defeat, but before the Wicked Witch is 'killed' by Gold. The only cure to which is soul magic to recall her past lives and discover who her soulmate is.
1. Rebirth

Title: Soulmates

Author: The Evil Guy

Disclaimer: ABC and Disney own Once Upon A Time and all associated characters. Xena: Warrior Princess and all associated characters is owned by Rob Tapert and Renaissance Pictures. This story contains descriptions and allusions to an 'Adult' relationship between two women. If this offends you, you always have the right to exercise your free will, and not read it. Also, considering the crossover, expect at least a little bit of the old ultra-violence. Xena-style of course.

Summary: OUAT-Xena crossover. Regina is poisoned by Zelena after her defeat, but before the Wicked Witch is 'killed' by Gold. The only cure to which is soul magic to recall her past lives and discover who her soulmate is.

Rebirth:

 _They were in the two-celled Sheriff's office, the closest thing Storybrooke had to a prison, or a dungeon (not counting the psych ward under the hospital as that_ was _a hospital after all). Until they had something better to do with her, this was where they were putting the defeated_ Wicked Witch _, Zelena Mills. She was bundled up beneath all the blankets and sheets the small cell had to offer, sitting on the bed. Regina recognized the symptoms of magic withdrawal, having experienced it once or twice herself. Although, never to this degree._

" _Why, Regina?" Zelena asked, sounding as pitiful as she looked. "Why not just… kill me, and put me out of my misery?"_

" _Because I know why you did, what you did," Regina answered as compassionately as she could. "We're much alike. Our mother, she ruined you too. I know what it's like to not have the life you wanted. The life you feel you deserve." It was remarkable really, she mused, reflecting on how she'd been, not that long ago, and how much it genuinely disgusted her now. She used to think that she hated Snow White. Now, she knows true hatred, as she hates who and what she once was._

" _Oh Boo-Hoo!" Zelena mocked her. "You had to be queen! You know nothing. I saw it all; you had everything!"_

" _Did I?"_

 _She didn't even pause as she recited her 'reason' for becoming the Evil Queen. "So you missed the part where I lost the love of my life."_

" _Mother did all that for you to achieve greatness!" the redhead said as an excuse._

 _Shaking her head, Regina said with great pity, "Not long ago, I was a lot like you. I wanted to kill someone who wronged me, and I failed. Had I killed Snow White, I wouldn't be in this world, I wouldn't be with these people, and… I wouldn't have my son, Henry. So no, Zelena, I won't kill you. Instead, I'm going to give you what I got. I'm going to give you a second chance."_

 _Sneering, she asked, "What if I don't want it?"_

" _Well, that would be a mistake, dear," Regina warned her 'older' sister. "Take it. Use it. Evil isn't born, it's_ made _. And so is good. If I were you," standing, she continued, "I'd consider creating a new destiny. Because if you don't," she reached the bars of the jail cell and showed the 'stick' side of this deal, "I'll be right there to take your heart and_ crush it _!" Threat delivered, she stood back and away from the jail cell._

" _Now, if you'll excuse me," she said, holding up Zelena's emerald pendant, "I should put this somewhere safe."_

"Oh, Regina," Zelena called as Regina stood and turned to leave. "Dear sister. One last thing?"

"What?" she said, deadpan in both expression and tone.

Normally she might have used magic to move it through the bars and across the distance between them, but then if she had her magic at all she wouldn't have bothered with this option in the first place. That she even had it on her was something of a grand coincidence, as before she'd been put in this jail cell, everything had been going her way. Everything had fallen into place, and the time portal, enabling her to change the past had been seconds from opening when… when what happened, _happened_. She'd possessed the Dark One's dagger, he'd been no threat, and what's more a weapon that she controlled. The Savior, the only possible threat as a powerful user of Light Magic, had her powers stripped from her with that curse on the pirate's lips. No one else posed any significant threat to her or her plans. Why did she even have such a thing in the first place, let alone in a hidden sleeve in her dress? She could have used it on her mother in the past, she supposed, but the whole point of the exercise was to give herself a better life, a life with her mother, a life that Regina had _stolen_!

Well, regardless of the reasons as to why she even had this on her in the first place, she had it now, and already in place with the perfect delivery system for her current circumstances. Holding the hollow reed up to her lips, she fired a parting shot, so to speak, before shooting out the poisoned dart.

"Oh nothing, just _this_!" and she blew.

Regina reacted, but to the wrong thing, and too slowly at that. The tube went flying out of the redhead's hands and Zelena was knocked unconscious, but the dart found its mark in Regina's neck, delivering its poisonous cargo.

"Great," she said dryly to her unconscious sister, holding the poisoned dart up for inspection. "If there was a point to that, consider it a waste. You are never getting this back, and I am done with you. Goodbye. _Sis_."

-~O~-

Regina had, true to form, tried to hide what had happened to her. She had managed to pull it off with everyone and up until she came face to face with Emma Swan, who somehow took one look at her and dropped everything, her own concerns included, to deal with the Mayor 'being sick or something'. If it weren't so annoying, Regina mused, she might find it endearing.

"Regina, are you alright?" Emma asked, who indeed had taken a single look at the dark haired woman and seen that something was off.

"I'm fine," she snapped, her usual self by all appearances.

"You're pale," Emma countered, coming right up to her. "And sweating. And you look like you're about to faint. You need to sit down."

To everyone's surprise in the Diner, Regina actually allowed the Savior to manhandle her down into one of the nearby chairs, rather than put up any actual fight or protest. That, more than anything else convinced most everyone that the hero of the hour, the reformed Evil Queen, was indeed quite sick.

"Think it's cause she used light magic when she's only supposed to used dark magic?" Grumpy 'quietly' asked one of his brothers.

Emma's glare would have left nothing but a stain of the dwarf if she'd still had her magic, but the effect was the same as he backed down.

"I'm fine, just…" Regina tried to excuse herself, but the poison chose that moment to disorient her, making her feel like she might actually faint.

"Just what?" Henry asked, concerned. "Mom, what happened? Are you gonna be OK?"

"Something tells me that you and my mom are going to be roommates for a while," Emma joked as she took Regina's vitals.

"Do not even joke about that, Miss Swan!" Regina snapped.

"Either way, we've gotta get you to the hospital," Emma said in all seriousness. "How did this happen to you? If Leroy was right…"

"No," Regina shook her head and allowed herself to be carried out of the diner and toward the hospital, or rather the police cruiser Emma would be using to drive her there. "It was Zelena. She shot me with a poisoned dart when I went to visit her in the jail. I just need to identify the poison and put together the cure from my potions stock."

"What makes you think that it is the kind of poison that you can wait on something like that?"

"I… couldn't quite make it to my vault, so I actually came to get a ride from you. A trip to the hospital will just delay things. We need to get to my vault so that I can start brewing an antidote," she said.

"What do you need from there?" Henry spoke up. "I can go grab whatever it is and meet you and Mom at the hospital. They can get started on identifying the poison or whatever, and I'll already have everything you need to start the antidote."

"He's right," Emma said, sitting the Mayor down on the passenger seat of the police cruiser they would be driving.

Reluctantly, and only because she felt that she truly didn't have as much time as she'd thought, she acquiesced and handed over the key to her vault and told him what to bring back with him. Although she only did that after David and Archie volunteered to go with the boy to help with gathering supplies, as well as protect him from several of the more… dangerous items she kept down there. After that, it was a quick ride to the Storybrooke Hospital Emergency Room and an even quicker admittance to her own private hospital room.

Then things became somewhat of a blur as test after test was run on her and the dart, confiscated for its own round of testing. Henry and David brought the supplies she'd requested from her vault, but unfortunately proved to be less than useful for what ailed her, though the multi-poison antidote she'd taken had probably bought her some more time, she was still afflicted by it. Interestingly enough, Emma was always nearby, which meant that Hook was nearby, as was Robin, but the mainstay was the Sheriff. Curious, Regina thought, as she struggled to keep focus on her surroundings.

This poison, whatever it was, it was disorienting and she'd been sweating ever since Emma had brought her into the hospital, and yet she felt like she had the chills. Worse, it was becoming difficult to move, even after taking the panacea.

"What is it, Whale?" Emma demanded. "What kind of poison has that witch used? Do we have the antidote? Do we have to go get some? Is it magical?"

"No," the chief surgeon of Storybrooke General said to interrupt the flood of questions. "It is not magical. The poison and symptoms are straightforward and easily identifiable from her bloodwork. As to the kind of poison, it is called _talmic_ and it is, unfortunately, quite lethal."

"What?"

Regina didn't think she'd ever seen the Sheriff so distraught before, not even when Henry had been in danger. Or rather, not since Henry had been put under the sleeping curse. Quite frankly, she was more surprised at her own reaction. Her son was back in her life, after a year apart and a lengthy period of estrangement prior to that. She was falling in love again, with a man that had proved to be worthy of her in more ways than one. She was a hero and could use Light Magic rather than just the destructive Dark Magic she'd been taught by the Dark One. She should be railing against fate and cursing everyone in sight as she wallowed in self-pity and raged against the world.

Instead, she was calm. She was accepting. She wanted to live, but she was at the same time satisfied with her life, so that if it was her time to go she would not go down screaming and cursing, but rather with her head held high and a smile on her face. Ms. Swan, on the other hand, was obviously not as composed.

"What are our options?" were the first words out of Emma's mouth once she'd processed what Whale had told her.

"There's not much, I'm afraid," he said. "While there are documented cases of individuals surviving talmic poison, there is no standard antidote or treatment option for it. Quite frankly, given what I know and can do, and the resources available here in Storybrooke as compared to the rest of the world, your best option may lie with magic, as much as I abhor having to admit it."

"That's not good enough!" the Sheriff raged at the Chief Surgeon.

"Would you excuse us for a few minutes, Dr. Whale," Regina requested, her voice and throat a bit scratchy from dehydration.

"Of course," he nodded and vacated the room as quickly as he could.

"What are ' _our_ ' options, Ms. Swan?" Regina repeated the question while asking another entirely, once Whale had gone.

"Well, you know, we have a son, so, that kind of makes us family so, yeah," Emma stammered a bit before saying more surely. " _Our_ options. Speaking of, what magic cures are there for this… talmic poison?"

"There aren't any," she didn't hesitate in saying.

"Come on, there has got to be something!" she insisted. "And if you don't know about it, maybe Gold will. Or we could go back to your sister, the Wicked Witch. This is her poison, she must have the antidote already. We just need to find it."

"If she did, you would have found it already as I'm sure you've already searched her person and the farmhouse quite thoroughly," Regina interrupted her plans. "By any chance have you found any such antidote as yet?"

"Well… no, but that doesn't mean…!"

"I'm not giving up, Ms. Swan," Regina said. "But I refuse to allow you to waste my now quite precious time. Speaking to Zelena and trying to bargain for the cure to this will get you no where and will waste everyone's time. She wouldn't have poisoned me only to offer the cure just because you asked politely. And the only thing she wants, you can't give to her."

"If it would save your life…" she started to say, but the dark-haired woman cut her off.

"By that, Ms. Swan, I mean that you literally can't give it to her, because you don't have her pendant," Regina said as she held out the emerald in the palm of her hand. "I do. And I won't let you risk everything, just for my life." A swirl of purple smoke appeared and vanished around her hand, taking the pendant with it.

"What did you just do?" the blond whispered, horrified.

"I kept you from wasting time," she replied. "Now see that you don't waste any more."

-~O~-

Rumpelstiltskin was not an ally that Emma typically relied upon, but she felt in these circumstances their goals coincided. Emma needed to get Zelena to talk and give up the antidote to save Regina's life, and Gold wanted to kill the depowered Wicked Witch for what she'd done to him. To be quite honest, she really didn't have a problem with that part, it was merely the fact that he wanted to do it outright and without hesitation-making it murder instead of execution-that kept her from opening the door and letting him right in while she watched with popcorn. As it was, what she was about to do came damn close.

"Gold, I have a deal for you," she said without preamble, walking up to him as he was sitting with his fiance/True Love, Belle at the diner.

"Well, hello to you too, Miss Swan," he said in what most would call a growl of annoyance. "And what deal could you possibly propose that would benefit me at this moment?"

"How would you like to be Zelena's executioner?" she proposed.

Belle gasped and a few other spit-takes and crashing of dishes echoed throughout the diner in the wake of the casually-spoken question. Mr. Gold merely raised an intrigued eyebrow and tilted his head to indicate he was indeed interested.

"I thought _heroes_ didn't kill?" he questioned.

"In the heat of the moment, no, they don't," Emma agreed. "But Zelena, the Wicked Witch, whatever you want to call her, she committed actual crimes, not just did evil stuff because she's a quote/unquote 'villain'. For starters, she kidnapped a baby, she held you captive for months, she impersonated a professional midwife with criminal intent, and she has either murdered or attempted murder against multiple citizens of this town, including but not limited to your son. Any one of those are worth a life imprisonment, and more than a few are federal offenses."

She stopped and let that soak in, not just for the slighted Dark One, but for the rest of the townsfolk listening in. "Now," she quickly continued, "I'm not about to call in the Feds and let her be taken away, but we're not equipped for long-term incarceration of anyone. And the murder, attempted murder, keeping you captive, and kidnapping charges alone would warrant the death penalty, even here in Maine."

"What is it that you are proposing _exactly_ , dearie?" he asked, entirely the Dark One at the moment, 'Gold' or 'Rumplestiltskin' just a mask worn by the embodiment of all darkness.

"Allow us to conduct a trial, according to the laws of this land, and if she is found guilty of even one of the crimes levied against her, she'll be automatically sentenced to death, by your hands," she outlined. "And I doubt very much that even you could get her off of everything I plan on charging her with, if you were so inclined. Only thing that you have to do is exercise a little bit of patience, and maybe enjoy her suffering as she goes through the humiliation of a trial. Either way, wait or don't wait, you'll get to kill her."

"Rumple, no," Belle begged her beloved. "Don't give in to the beast. Be the man that I love, please?"

"Belle," Emma interrupted with a shake of her head. "He is being a man. After what he went through… believe me, wanting to kill the one that does something like that is all too human. And I'm talking about justice here, not revenge. Big difference. He'll be duly deputized and a part of the government dispensing a legal execution, if he agrees to this."

"And what do you get out of this, dearie?" he asked, calmed somewhat by both Belle's pleas and the Sheriff's reasoning.

"Zelena poisoned Regina," Emma stated harshly. "Regina hid her emerald somewhere, and I don't have time to look for it. So, lacking the carrot, I want to go with the stick and get her to give up the antidote."

"You want me to threaten her into giving you the antidote?" he asked, intrigued.

"I'll do the threatening," she answered. "You just stand there and be ready to do the job I'm offering you."

"But…" Belle started, and then shivered at the cold look in Emma's blue/green eyes.

"Make no mistake, Zelena's execution will be legal and done with true justice," the Savior vowed. "The only question is that if she doesn't give up the antidote, I'll have the judge sign off on it and she'll be dead this afternoon instead of a few weeks from now after a lengthy trial."

Gold smiled his crocodile smile.

-~O~-

"You're crazy!" Zelena screamed, backed up into the furthest corner from the front of the jail cell she was trapped in. "I don't deserve this! You can't do this!"

"Give me the antidote and we'll have a nice lengthy trial discussing what you do and don't deserve, and as for what I can and cannot do," Emma stepped up to the bars and gave the redhead a hard glare. "I'm the Sheriff. Which means I am the law in this town. And until a Federal Prosecutor shows up demanding your release into his or her custody, I can do whatever I want with you, so long as it is within the confines of the law. Judge George over here, while not a friend of my family, has no problem signing your death warrant, considering he was turned into one of your flying monkeys for a while. And Gold has already agreed to the deal to be your executioner. The only question is, does he kill you now, or when you're found guilty at trial, I don't know, maybe days, maybe months from now?"

"You can't do this!" Zelena screamed, shaking her head in denial.

"Antidote!" Emma shouted back.

"There… there isn't one," she whimpered fearfully, afraid she was signing her own death warrant with her words, literally! "I… I kept it from a poison extract in Oz! I… I was going to use it on Leopold or Snow White's mother, so that my mother would've become queen! I never brewed or brought the antidote with me, as my… my magic protected me against its effects. No poison could get past my skin…"

Emma's fists clenched tight around the bars and several lights overhead shorted out briefly, while a sparking hum was briefly heard from the metal cage. If she'd been touching it, Zelena was sure that she would've been shocked, if not outright electrocuted. The blond was angry enough that she never even noticed the special effects or put together what it might mean. She just knew one fact that pissed her off more than anything else at the moment.

She wasn't lying.

"What poison?" she growled, her steel-blue eyes glaring out from beneath her bangs, testing her.

"I… I don't re-remember…" she stammered.

Lie.

"Judge?" she turned her back on the prisoner. The Death Row prisoner.

"Wait!" Zelena screamed. "Talmic poison! It paralyzes and then eventually stops the heart! Standard cures and antidotes, even magical ones, only slow it down. Only a cure-all, like water from the Well of Life or Well of Wonders, or a miracle could save her now! I have artifacts, magical shoes that let you travel to other realms, they can take you there and back with just a click of the heels, you can…"

"Enough of this!" Gold interrupted. "Miss Swan, are we doing this or not?

"Not!"

The voice that had spoken came not from Emma, but from the front of the Sheriff's office. Regina, looking weaker than any present had ever seen her, but also fully dressed in her power suit dress from earlier, was standing there, leaning heavily against the wall.

"Regina, what the hell are you doing here?!" Emma screeched, racing over to help her friend, the mother of her son-er, so to speak.

"Keeping you from making a mistake," she said, struggling to remain standing as it was. "One that will haunt you to the end of your days. I can't let you do this, Ms. Swan."

"Do what? Save your life?!" she exclaimed. "How the hell did you even get out of the hospital in this condition? For crying out loud, Regina, you said that it was too far to your vault, it is almost twice the distance to here from the hospital!"

"I was properly motivated, and… what Henry brought me helped, bringing back some of my strength," the sick brunette explained.

"I can help her!" Zelena cried out, begging for her life at this point. "The shoes, I can tell you where they are and all you have to do is get the right miracle cure! Please don't do this!"

"Sheriff Swan?" the Judge snapped, testing to see how his 'granddaughter' would handle things now, to see if she had the strength to carry through on her threats.

"I know full well what those shoes can do," Gold spoke up. "And while they can take you anywhere that you wish to go, they aren't here in Storybrooke. They also can't tell you where to find the Mayor's cure, nor how to get it, as just knowing where it is would only be the first step. She's lying and trying to buy time."

"Ms. Swan," Regina shook her head.

Huffing in annoyance, Emma helped Regina to a seat, and then she turned on Zelena in a fury. Focusing on the witch, she asked, paying extremely close attention to the answer, "No more stalling, Zelena! Is there anything that you have to offer that can save your sister's life? The truth, no stalling or false hope or scavenger hunt!"

Her bottom lip trembling, fully believing that she was about to die, Zelena grasped for any stray hope that she could, only to come back and meet the stone cold stare of the Savior's piercing blue eyes. How did it come to this? How did her life hinge on a lie or the truth, and the gut instinct that the lie would mean her death?

She shook her head, tears spilling, as she answered with a sob, "No. There is nothing. I… I never needed or thought that I would need one. Even… even if I poisoned myself by accident, my…" she bowed her head and mumbled the rest, "... my magic was powerful enough to save me from it."

"You're deluding yourself, dear," Regina said from her seat. "Magic can only do so much, and mine is what is keeping me even conscious at the moment. Having experienced all that you can do with your magic, you would only last about a day longer than I will… than I would," she hastily corrected herself.

"Can your magic save her?" Emma asked again.

Looking up, no longer crying as her hatred and envy came to the forefront once more, she answered more harshly, "No. And even if it could, I wouldn't! I hope she dies suffering! Go ahead and let the Dark One have me, it'll be worth it knowing that she's dying in agony!"

Emma's fists clenched around metal bars of the cell as she screamed out her fury. At the same moment, the lights overhead, and the desk lamps that were actually on, all exploded with showers of sparks shooting out.

She was telling the truth. Yeah, about wanting Regina dead, but unfortunately also about not being able to save her at all.

Turning back around, she saw the three figures looking to her with surprise. Judge George actually looked a bit afraid, but was covering it nicely. Regina was looking at her with… was that worry? Gold, once the surprise had passed, was just giving her another one of his calculating looks.

"We're not doing this, today," she decided. At the sound of Zelena's sigh of relief, she quickly continued. "Judge, set up a date for the arraignment, get her legal counsel and make sure everything is done by the book. Please inform the DA and the prosecution and we'll start gathering evidence and witness statements."

"Wait, what?!" Zelena exclaimed.

"I made a deal, Zelena," Emma said, keeping her back to the woman that she dared to say she genuinely hated. "And unfortunately, killing you now would be a mercy, and if you'd lied to me, I would've done it just because you would prove to be too dangerous to keep alive. You told the truth, so I'm done with you." Turning to face her, anger hardening her features, she concluded, "You're going to be put on trial, and considering that you _are_ guilty, you will then be executed, legally and according to justice, by Rumpelstiltskin. I'll try to make sure it is as humiliating and suffering as I can for you, and if Regina dies… I'm going to help Gold here brainstorm ways to make sure that your end eclipses hers in as far as agony goes."

"Ms. Swan," Regina started to say as the blond helped her to her feet.

"Save it," Emma cut her off. "I'm getting you back to the hospital before you drop dead on me. Gold, like I said, we're not doing this today. And be honest with yourself, which is better? Killing her now, or savoring it and watching as she's humiliated and brought down before you finally get to finish it?"

The pair of women turned to leave before the pawn shop owner could respond.

"You certainly know how to push his buttons, my dear," Regina smirked as she limped out of the Sheriff's office.

"I learned from the best."

-~O~-

"She's crazy!"

"Not the word I would use," Snow commented from her hospital bed, having just finished giving her son his latest meal.

"It's like she doesn't want us to find the antidote!" Emma shouted to counter Snow's comment.

"I'm sure she does, she just doesn't want us to waste time, like you said," Snow countered. "And she was right to stop you from having Zelena summarily executed. There does need to be a trial, give everyone closure and prove that she is no longer a threat. Besides, she's right, we can't give Zelena back her pendant. It would be the wrong thing to do, and there is no guarantee that it would even work. Zelena's plan would have ended up with Regina not being born in the first place, and after she was the one to defeat her this last time, I doubt she'd have much difficulty with letting her die so she could try again."

"She needs Regina's heart, alive and beating," Emma argued.

"And she needs my son, your brother," Snow reminded her, a hard glare in her eyes.

"I… I know that, I, I just, well, I'm taking care of that, I just…" Emma deflated at that and resumed pacing around the small hospital room. The men in the room, David and Henry, were quietly sitting off to the side in the only chairs in said room. Their instincts were wisely telling them to stay out of the way of the two headstrong women, at least until things calmed down or they had something constructive to contribute to the situation.

"There has to be _something_ that we can do!" Emma exclaimed. Unknown to her, and noticed only by Henry, very faint sparks were shooting across her clenched fingers. That was interesting because Emma kept insisting that her magic was still gone and she couldn't use it ever since she'd saved Hook's life thanks to the Wicked Witch's curse.

"There… might be," Henry said, startling himself as much as the rest of them.

"What've you got, kid?" his mother asked, desperate hope shining in her eyes.

"Well, there was a story in the early parts of the book, about… past lives?" he looked to his grandparents, hoping they were familiar with it.

"Oh," Snow's face dropped, while David's fell into a similar shock.

"I remember hearing about that from my mother," David said. "About the first True Loves, and how they met across time. I think that was before even Rumpletstiltskin's time. It was the 'Romeo and Juliet' of the Enchanted Forest, Emma."

"So, they both died in the end?" she asked sarcastically.

"Sort of," he shrugged with a wince.

"They were reborn again and again, each time meeting and falling in love with one another anew. It's a good story. We should sit down and read it…" Snow was saying, but Emma suddenly interrupted.

"Wait, so what about dying and being reborn is going to help Regina _now_?" the blond snapped.

"Maybe one of her past lives encountered this poison and knows how to beat it?" Henry shrugged. "I only thought of it because you mentioned that bit about Zelena making it so Mom never would've been born. Thing is, if she does have past lives, then she _would_ have been born, or reborn, just not as Cora's daughter."

"Huh, when you put it like that, it really doesn't seem like such a bad idea," Emma remarked. "OK, so how do we go about seeing if Regina has past lives and can remember something like that?"

"The Fairies," all three of them answered. And while it couldn't really happen, Emma wouldn't be the least bit surprised if her new little brother would've added to that if he could speak at all.

"I'll go find Blue, then," the Savior decided and departed to do just that.

-~O~-

The Blue Fairy was fairly easy to find. Talking her into helping the reformed Evil Queen, on the other hand…

"She's the Evil Queen," Blue insisted.

"She saved us, defeated the Wicked Witch, using light magic at that, and she does not deserve to die like this!" Emma defended her. "And be honest, what would it really cost to do this? To see if she has past lives and allow her to remember them to help her in this life?"

"Nothing at all," an angry voice spoke up from behind the arguing pair. They were just outside the diner, so while there wasn't much of an audience, there still was one. Tinkerbell, dressed in a dark green cloak and modern dress, walked up to them and stood next to Emma. "The spell, while requiring a fairy's wand, doesn't even use any dust, merely the target's own magic. She's actually afraid of the consequences of the spell more than anything else."

" _Green_!" Blue hissed.

"It's Tinkerbell," both Emma and Tink said in unison.

"What consequences?" Emma asked, while staring straight at Blue.

The Blue Fairy frowned and looked a bit mulish for a moment, but finally relented and answered, "Depending upon who she was in her past lives, she could become… far more powerful than anything we have ever seen before. And we've all seen what Regina does with her power. As great a threat as she ever was, she could become something far worse."

"So could I," Emma threatened. "So could you, so could my parents, so could absolutely anybody. The point is she's trying! She's changing, and making the _right_ choices for once in her life! Give her a chance to keep making the right choices. Please?"

She was begging by this point, startling both fairies by her vehement defense on behalf of the reformed Evil Queen, and even surprising herself by just how far she was willing to go for her friend. She briefly mused on the fact of when exactly she and Regina became 'friends' and the answer surprised her. While they'd been enemies, rivals, and other things over the long course of their relationship, Emma still found herself as thinking that she and Regina had been friends from the very beginning. More like 'Frenemies', but still…

"I'll do it," Tinkerbell stated, turning briefly to face Blue, challenging her to forbid her from this course of action.

"Thanks," Emma said before Blue could say anything else. "Let's go, we have no idea how much time she has left."

-~O~-

Tinkerbell took a few moments to explain exactly what was going to happen as she stood at the end of Regina's bed. Emma was to the bedridden mayor's right while Henry sat off to the left. Snow and Charming were in their own hospital room, not letting baby Neal out of their sights.

"This is an ancient spell," the blond fairy explained. "Not to mention this is soul magic, it doesn't get more powerful or potent than this. That having been said, it really isn't much more than a simple cantrip and all it does is allow you to recall your past lives. Sometimes it can reveal who your soulmates are, sometimes it lets you keep or remember a few skills that you knew in a past life, and sometimes…" she trailed off, drawing everyone's attention.

Taking a deep breath, she continued, "And sometimes the past life takes over. Which, in full disclosure, is what Blue was afraid of happening with you, Regina."

"Well, my dear, as bad as I am, do you truly think that I could be worse, especially considering that I am poisoned?" Regina remarked.

"No, but you could be subsumed by the personality of your past life, or lives, whether they be good or evil," Tinkerbell said. "It would be a form of death as everything that you are in this life would no longer exist."

They were silent after that. Regina looked over to her son, and then to the woman at her right. Taking a deep breath, she made a decision. Yes, she was at peace with her life and her death if it was her time. That didn't mean she wouldn't fight to live.

"Do it," she commanded.

Tinkerbell nodded and raised her wand, reissued when she rejoined the ranks of the fairies here in Storybrooke. A few ancient words nobody could pretend to know or understand and a figure-eight swishing wave over Regina's body and moments later the lights in the room flickered briefly before a clear wave of energy settled over Regina and then spread throughout the room. The brunette's eyes rolled up in her head as she passed out.

To either side, both Emma and Henry likewise passed out, the standing blond thankfully falling forward so she was half on the bed and kept from sliding all the way to the ground, as Henry just slumped down in his chair.

"Oh dear…" Tinkerbell said as she looked around the room. "Whoops."

-~O~-

 _The Distant Past_

"You've got to take me with you! Teach me everything you know. You can't keep me here. Xena, I'm not cut out for this village life! I was born to do so much more. I don't belong there, Xena. I'm not the little girl my parents wanted me to be. You wouldn't understand."

"It's not easy proving you're a different person. It's hard to be alone."

"You're not alone."

"Do you ever miss your family?"

"Sometimes. Not as much when I'm with you."

"Thanks for being my family. You're like a sister to me. For me, our friendship binds us closer than blood ever could."

"Don't you leave me! Don't leave me, don't leave me, don't you leave me! Wake up!"

"I pride myself on being your friend and I'm here for you. Always."

"I am Joxer! The Mighty!"

"I need you to fight. Just fight to come back. This world needs you. I need you. I can't lose you again."

"Gabrielle, I'll always be here."

"No one made you who you are. It was always there. Question is who would I be without you?"

"Joxer the Mighty, roams through the countryside, he never needs a place to hide, with Gabby as his sidekick, fighting with her little stick, righting wrongs and singing songs, being mighty all day long… He's Joxer! Joxer, the Mighty!"

"I trusted you and you lied to me."

"Tell me how you feel, right now, nothing about the past, right now!"

"I Hurt Inside! Don't you?"

"Even in death, Gabrielle. I will never leave you."

"GABRIELLE!"

"XENA!"

"You brought out the best in me, Xena. You save me, Xena."

"You're the best thing in my life."

"Gabrielle's soul and mine were destined to be together. I can't let her walk through Hell alone."

"I asked for a sign to show that I was doing the right thing, you showed up."

"Xena, don't let go of me."

"Never."

"Looks like you got your daughter back."

"No, we got _our_ daughter back."

"I love you, I would never hurt you, you know that, don't you?"

"I know."

"Xena and I have a connection. It's stronger than either one of us. We're soulmates."

"He's got the heart of a lion."

"He's an idiot."

"But he's got heart."

"I hear they need a girl with a chakram down in Egypt."

"I'll always love you."

"XENA!"

"GABRIELLE!"

"GABRIELLE!"

-~O~-

All three sat up with a gasp, a name on their lips, though only two said the same name.

Tinkerbell, who'd been standing there worrying for about sixty-nine seconds in total, jumped and very nearly took flight, wings or no wings, pixie dust or no pixie dust. "Are you all, alright?" she asked, concerned. "What happened? I swear, I only focused the spell on Regina, it shouldn't have affected you or Henry, Emma."

"Who… Emma?" the blond mumbled, shaking her head, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"Gab… Gabby… Gabrielle… My head hurts," Henry moaned, holding his head in the classic pose one assumed when trying not to vomit or pass out.

"It would seem… the spell worked… a little _too_ well..." Regina remarked, still in bed, but her eyes and expression were more active than the other two, calculating, analyzing, remembering, if Tinkerbell had to judge the expressions correctly.

"What happened?" the green-clad blond repeated.

"I… remember," Emma said, finally able to think clearly. _Very_ clearly.

"As do I… my dear," Regina said weakly from the bed.

"Talmic… wait, Xena, that nearly killed you before!" Emma surged to her feet.

"Xena? Her name is Regina, Emma," Tinkerbell 'helpfully' reminded her.

Emma shot the other blond a confused, and annoyed, look before turning her attention back to Regina, commenting off-hand, "Who's Emma?"

"Look, Xena, you beat this before, you said that there was something about having to go under and purge the poison by letting it run its course," Emma/Gabrielle said, grasping the bedridden woman's hands in hers. "Do you remember? Can you still beat this? Please, don't leave me again."

"Not if I... can help it," Regina smiled weakly up at the other woman. "I think... Henry needs your help... more than me... at the moment. I'll hang on, don't worry."

"You always say that," she said with a sad yet bright smile. Tinkerbell was taken aback by the amount of love and pure light shining through in that one look. "You should know by now that I always worry. But I always have faith that you'll come back. We're destined to be together, Xena. We're soulmates."

Tinkerbell gasped aloud, on the verge of fainting.

"Take care of Henry," Regina insisted, practically pushing her away, though very weakly.

Nodding, Emma stepped back and turned her attention to her son. She knelt down next to the teenager and helped him raise his head. For the record, she fully intended on calling him 'Kid' and treating him the same way that she had for his entire life/for the past year, depending on one's point of view. Instead, what came out of her mouth was; "Hey Joxer, how are you doing? Let me know if you're going to hurl, just don't use any of my scrolls to clean up with this time, alright?"

"That was one time," Henry moaned. "And my name is Henry, not Joxer. At least I'm a man this time. Gods, being Annie sucked! And Katya. And Annabelle. And Trixie. Gods, I hate being a woman. Why does my head still hurt?"

"Don't worry about it Joxer, and I'm pretty sure that if you remembered it, you'd say the same thing about being a man if you were a girl this time around," Emma/Gabrielle said. "I'll get you some Tylenol."

"Name's Henry!" he called after her, still holding his head in pain.

"Sure thing, Joxer," she called back.

"OK, what is going on with her?" the boy asked the remaining women.

"Uh, remember what I said about sometimes the old personalities overwhelm your current persona?" Tinkerbell shrugged by way of explanation.

"So how come Mom and me, and let me just say how cool it is that you're my Mom this time around, aren't like that? I mean, I distinctly remember that I'm Henry Mills and… well, everything that has happened in my life. But I can also remember almost everything that happened in almost all my other lives too. And Mom, you seem to be fairly in control and, well… yourself, at the moment. So, why?"

"Ms. Swan has always been very… separated from the truth," Regina answered, her eyes closed as she concentrated on her breathing. "She can see it in others so much clearer, than she can see it in herself. It took her nearly a year to even open herself to the possibility of believing in the Curse. It took a trap and threat of a cave-in to get her to admit her true feelings for your father. And I believe she is still struggling with being back in Storybrooke, as I overheard her say several times that she wished to return to New York City after the current crisis had passed. Without something to ground _Emma_ in the present, _Gabrielle_ took over, as the threat to my life and our connection had a stronger anchor for those memories to latch onto."

"So… what do we do?" he asked, still rubbing his head, but able to manage the pain better now.

"Fortunately, I don't think we have to do much," Tinkerbell said, adding to the conversation. "She recognized you as her son, despite calling you… Joxer?" She shook her head at his shrug and goofy grin. "And she knows about Tylenol and recognizes the place and the situation. She has all her memories, she just thinks of herself as this 'Gabrielle' instead of as 'Emma'. Who, if you don't mind me asking, are you? I mean, who were you, and who is this Gabrielle that Emma believes she is?"

"That is… a long story," Regina sighed. "And one that Ms. Swan… that Gabrielle would be better off telling."

"Hey, I've been known to tell a good story once in a while," Henry commented.

"Without embellishing?" came the deadpan reply.

Shrugging sheepishly, he just gave her that goofy grin again.

"Here you go, Joxer," Gabrielle/Emma said as she came back with a paper cup of water and some white tablets.

"Seriously, Mom, stop calling me that," he said, gratefully accepting the medicine. "My name is Henry. And just because I suddenly have another name, just like everybody else in this town, doesn't mean I want to be known by that name. I'm Henry, here and now. Henry the Heroic."

"Well, Henry or Joxer, it's good to see that some things don't change," Gabrielle/Emma said with a grin.

"And how are you doing, dear?" Regina asked. "Sorting yourself out?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"What is your name?" Tinkerbell asked.

"Gabrielle Swan, Sheriff of Storybrooke, and Xena's soulmate, if that helps you any," she answered the other blond with a huff of annoyance. "I heard you guys from out in the hall. I'm fine and I remember everything just fine. Here, I'll prove it. My parents are Snow White and Prince Charming, aka Mary Margaret and David Nolan. My son is Henry Mills, raised by Regina Mills, after I gave him up for adoption while in prison. You are Tinkerbell, and I'm kind of dating-but-not-really Captain Hook, and apparently Peter Pan was Henry's great-grandfather, until his grandfather, Rumpelstiltskin, killed them both to save us all. Should I go on?"

"What's her name?" she asked, pointing at Regina.

"Xena," was the instant answer.

"Who raised your son?" the fairy questioned, trying to resolve the logic conflict.

"She did," the blond sheriff pointed.

"So, the name of the person that raised Henry, is?" she pressed.

Rolling her eyes, Gabrielle/Emma answered, "Regina Mills."

"Who is?"

"Her," she pointed to the bedridden brunette.

"Who is…?"

"Xena."

Regina rolled her eyes and growled out, "As amusing as this is, Ms. Swan's identity crisis can be better handled outside of my hospital room. Besides, knowing you as I do, Tinkerbell, you're dying to spread the word faster than that dwarf could."

"What word?" Henry and Emma both asked.

"Soulmates," was the simple and straightforward answer.

"I'm gonna go with, 'huh?' here?" Gabrielle/Emma questioned.

"So eloquent," Regina chuckled. "No one would dare to confuse you with the 'Battling Bard of Potodea' with a vocabulary like that, dear."

"Just you wait," she grimaced at the title. "As soon as you're better and out of this hospital, I will get you back for that. But seriously, what is the big deal about us being soulmates? I mean, aside from the obvious of, y'know, us being soulmates."

"Yeah, why is that a big deal?" Henry put forth. "These two have always been soulmates, never apart from each others life, in one way or another, for practically all of time. It is kind of old news after a while."

"Recall, if you will, the story that gave you this idea in the first place?" Tinkerbell reminded them. "The story about the _First_ True Love couple of the Enchanted Forest. How they were True Loves, separated by time and could only be together after they were reborn into the same life time? And the spell I just used, it was what confirmed it for them and allowed them to have their Happy Ending. Since then, the spell has been used many more times, but…"

"But…?" Gabrielle/Emma asked.

"You said 'butt'," Henry cackled.

"Shut up, Joxer," the boy's biological mother snapped with a roll of her eyes.

"I think 'Joxer' is corrupting you, Henry," Regina commented. "You never used to be so crude and immature."

"I'm a teenage boy," he defended himself. They had to acknowledge the point.

"However," Tinkerbell quickly took control of the conversation once more. "Since that first time, it has never revealed genuine soulmates. It allows people to recall their past lives, but very few of those have actually met one another before that lifetime, maybe just once before in their most recent reincarnation. Since that first time, there has never been a confirmed case of True Soulmates being revealed. This is… huge!"

"Uh… how huge are we talking about here?" the Savior asked, suddenly nervous.

-~O~-

"Emma, this is huge!" Snow exclaimed, ecstatic at the news.

"Who is Emma?" Gabrielle/Emma repeated. If she weren't so confused by everybody calling her by a name she didn't recognize, she might be getting annoyed by it, except that every time she heard the name a wave of raw… _confusion_ swept over her.

"What is wrong? What happened to her?" David, currently holding his son, asked.

"Nothing is wrong," she insisted stubbornly.

"We cast a spell," Henry answered his grandparents. "The one to reveal soulmates, from the story?" Seeing them both nod, he continued. "Turns out that Mom and, well, Mom, are soulmates. And Emma's been overtaken by the identity of one of her past lives. She still remembers everything and knows who and what everything and everybody is, she just thinks of herself as 'Gabrielle' rather than 'Emma'."

"What about Regina?" Snow asked. "How is she handling this?"

"She's going to be fine," her daughter insisted. "Xena has survived lots of things, and she's even managed to beat this kind of poison before. She'll be fine."

David and Snow exchanged a look, before they both glanced back at their children and asked at the same time, "Xena?"

"Mom," Henry supplied, hastily correcting, "Regina. Regina and Emma, Xena and Gabrielle. And I was Joxer the Mighty!"

The boy's grandparents were left blinking at that pronouncement as they struggled to come to grips with all these sudden revelations.

"So," Snow said. "Regina… Xena, is going to be fine. That's good! But, what about after she's better, Em… uh, Gabrielle? What are you going to do?"

Now confused for reasons other than the name-game going on, the blond looked to her mother and asked, "What do you mean?"

"You've found your soulmate!" Snow enthused. "What are your plans? How is this going to change your relationship? What about Robin? Or Hook?"

Flushing bright red, Gabrielle/Emma exclaimed, " _Mother_! Xena and I are _not_ like that! We're friends. And yes, I love her, but, oh by the gods, not like _that_! I'm not going to _marry her_! And, as for Killian, I don't know. It's kind of new and I'm not even really sure we're dating. I mean, my last serious relationship was with a flying monkey for crying out loud! Plus, I'm kind of still trying to get over the whole concept of dating _the_ 'Captain Hook', if you know what I mean? And as for Robin, well, that's between him and Xena. Although I certainly can't blame him and I kind of know what he sees in her in the first place."

"You think he's the reincarnation of Autolycus?" Henry suddenly asked.

"Who's Autolycus?" David asked, handing baby Neal back over to his mother.

"The King of Thieves," Gabrielle/Emma answered automatically. "And god, I hope not. Those two never could get along for very long. He'd tease her mercilessly, and then she'd one-up him at every opportunity. At least with Marcus, Hercules and the others there was genuine affection between them. Maybe he's Hercules?"

"Somehow, I doubt that," Henry remarked.

"What are you two talking about? And Henry, how do you know about this? Is all of this in your book?" David asked.

"No, like I said, I was Joxer the Mighty," he grinned goofily. "The same spell that affected my Moms affected me too. I remember all my past lives, same as them. Funny thing is, I'm usually hanging around with them, and yet I'm not considered either of theirs soulmate. Funny how that works, huh?"

"Joxer, that's not funny, and it is not how it works," Gabrielle/Emma said sufferingly.

"Why does she keep calling you that?" David stage-whispered.

"I'm not sure, but I think it is because she recognizes my soul, so to speak, that I used to be 'Joxer', and as she's 'Gabrielle' at the moment, that is who she identifies me as, instinctively. But then again, I'm mostly guessing about that."

"I wonder who she thinks we are?" he asked.

"I am standing right here, y'know," 'she' pointed out. "And I know who you are; you're my father and mother, Prince Charming and Snow White."

"Before we get too far off topic," Snow interrupted. "What are your plans, Em-Gabrielle? What will you do next?"

"Well, once Xena is recovered, I'm going to turn my full attention to the trial and putting that bitch Callisto in the ground for good," she answered.

"Wait, what?!" Henry squeaked. "What does Callisto have to do with anything?!"

"She's the one that poisoned Xena." Gabrielle/Emma answered, straightforward.

"Well, yeah, originally, but…" Henry stopped talking as the gears started to turn. He might have Joxer's memories and a few quirks now, but he was still Henry Mills, genius son of the Mayor of Storybrooke, who saw connections between reality and the truth and believed in fairy tales. "Oh boy. Zelena _is_ Callisto reincarnated, isn't she?"

"Duh," she shrugged.

"Well, that… actually explains quite a lot," he said.

"What? What explains what?" the Charming couple were completely lost.

"Wouldn't Mom have issues with you basically letting Eve be executed?" Henry asked.

"She's not Eve, she's Callisto in the body of her wicked half-sister," Gabrielle/Emma countered. "And she's free to get her the best defense attorney that she can. I'm still the sheriff and she committed a crime against the community that I've sworn to protect. Besides, it's kharma. If she gets reborn as your baby sister or brother, I'll totally forgive her, but right now, I'm going for the maximum, and Gold is eager to provide the execution."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Snow asked with a frown. "Sometimes forgiveness is-"

"Is not deserved and has passed the point where it could be applied in this case," Gabrielle/Emma cut her off. "Death is the only redemption this woman will get. If she showed the _slightest_ bit of remorse, or if she had hesitated even the slightest amount in _anything_ that she's done, I might consider forgiving her and offering her redemption. She has no conscience and is obsessed with whatever envy-driven revenge plot she has put in her mind. She does not deserve the chance redemption would offer. So no, I'm not sure it's a good idea. It is a great idea, and my decision to make."

"Emma…" David whispered, reaching out.

Blinking furiously, the blond shook her head and shot them a confused look, saying, "Who is Emma?"

"You are," he tried, hoping to break through whatever confusion she was experiencing.

"I am Gabrielle," she replied coldly, and then turned and walked away.

"Maybe she just needs to sleep it off?" Henry suggested with a shrug.

-~O~-

Regina flatlined at sundown that evening. She was officially, clinically dead for three minutes and twenty-one seconds. Then she started to breath again, and half the room with her, as her soulmate had been just outside the room when the doctors arrived with the crash cart and been holding her breath for every second that the woman she called Xena had not been breathing. She'd cried and silently begged that she was right, and began thanking and praising the gods anew as the beeping started up again. She awoke with the sun.

The woman calling herself Gabrielle, however, hadn't slept a wink, and the sleep deprivation was starting to show. Fortunately, Regina was quick to resolve that with a simple and short conversation. So to speak.

Sitting up in her bed, recovering quickly now that she had full access to her magic and the poison was purged from her system, the brunette calmly regarded the blue-eyed blond standing before her. Smiling brightly-though her exhaustion was blatantly obvious to everyone-the sheriff moved forward to embrace her recovering soulmate.

"Xena, I knew that-!" before she could get any further, the mayor struck out with her fingers, hitting very specific pressure points on the other woman's body, and moved just as quickly out of the bed so she could catch the crumbling blond.

"And I knew that you'd worry yourself sick," she whispered to the younger woman in her arms. Moving quickly and deftly, she hauled the other half of her soul up onto the bed and fussed for a bit until she was resting comfortably on the hospital bed, though still in her street clothes. Speaking of which, Regina began hunting down her own clothes.

Once properly dressed, she made her way through the hospital to the maternity ward and quickly located the Charming couple, hovering around their infant son, and not letting him out of their sight for an instant. She recalled this period of overprotectiveness from her own times as a mother, though she had yet to give birth to a child of her own in this lifetime, the memories were still there. She imagined that it was rather… enhanced, because of the ordeal the Charming family had undergone recently at the hands of her half-sister, which some part of her recognized as being that of the reincarnation of Callisto/Eve.

Bad circumstances, she mused, as she felt that if she and Zelena had actually had the chance to be true sisters to one another, they would have gotten along quite well. Perhaps they could have even protected each other from their mother's dark influence. Regardless, the past was history, and she needed to start looking toward the future.

"Oh!" Snow squeaked, startled. "Regina. Or is it Xena, now?"

Smiling that fake 'I-want-to-kill-you-or-make-you-suffer-endlessly' smile that she reserved just for Snow White, the reformed Evil Queen replied, "No, I'm still me, still Regina. Although I cannot say that it surprises me of everyone that spell could be cast on, your daughter, who you abandoned through a wardrobe and left on the side of the road, would be the one to lose herself in past life memories and identity. Perhaps rather than teasing me, we should all be looking into ways of grounding Ms. Swan back to her present identity?"

"Well, glad to see that you're feeling better," Charming said sarcastically. "Where is Emma?"

"She hasn't slept in nearly two days," Regina shrugged, standing back to silently observe the newborn infant. "I knocked her unconscious and left her in my bed. She'll be out of it for at least the next six hours, eight if I can help it."

"You put her to sleep?" Snow asked, alarmed.

"No," she corrected, keeping her voice soft and level, and oddly deep. "I knocked her out. Using pressure points. To put it in perspective so even you idiots can understand, it's like the Vulcan neck pinch, except you just put steady pressure here and here while pinching the carotid artery here." She pointed to the various points on her upper chest and neck as she explained it. "Simpler and doesn't require preparation or potions that magic would demand. Also, less unpredictable, as I know from the technique I used she'll be up in six hours at the earliest."

The pair of heroes shot each other a look that only they could properly interpret before turning back to the mayor and Snow asked, "How do you know about pressure points?"

"Please don't let your husband's stupidity or influence on his half of your heart cloud your wits, Miss Blanchard," Regina let out a huff of annoyance and rolled her eyes. "I retain all the memories of all my past lives, the same as Henry and Emma, only I know _who_ I am. I am Regina Mills, and I have quite a bit to keep myself grounded in that fact. I remember Xena, everything she ever did and was, but _I_ am not Xena. For one thing, I have actual decorum."

"You know you're bad mouthing… yourself, right?" David commented.

"And every time you open your mouth, you make yourself look even more like an idiot," she remarked. "What is your point?"

"We're getting off topic here, " Snow held up her hands to forestall any further argument or name-calling. " _How_ can we help Emma? She still knows us and has all her memories. She's still _her_. Won't this whole name thing resolve itself in just a couple of days?"

"Well _of course_ she's still _her_ ," Regina snapped. "Her soul, heart, brain, everything about her is still all _her_. The problem is that her sense of self, her identity has been subsumed by that of Gabrielle's. The longer it goes on, the more and more she'll behave like Gabrielle rather than Emma. But then, look who I'm conversing with. Of course, you two would _love_ to have Gabrielle as your daughter, as the Savior. No wonder Emma couldn't hold on, she doesn't have anything to anchor her like Henry and I do. And having you two as her parents certainly won't help matters."

"What are you talking about?" Snow asked. Both of them were clearly confused and had little clue as to what she was going on about.

"Gabrielle," Regina's tone and expression shifted as she spoke about a woman long-since-dead, "She's a person that sees the best in people, all people. She lights up the whole world with her goodness and hope. She can change the darkest soul in existence into a paragon of virtue. Her love can change a nation and redeem even the most hopeless of souls." Her expression darkened into one they were far more familiar with associating with the Evil Queen. "So of course you two have no problem with your daughter being more like her rather than being satisfied with the person she has become on her own."

They both looked down, feeling shame, though they could not say why exactly.

"OK, all right," David finally spoke up. "I'm not saying that you're right, or that we want our daughter to change or be anyone other than who she is. But I still don't see what is so bad about this. This will fix itself, right? She'll remember who she is on her own, just with a few extra memories and skills, like you and Henry. Right?"

Regina gave them a dark look, pleased that they finally seemed to be catching on, in only that it would keep her from getting even more frustrated with them. "No. She won't."

"To put it in the proper perspective for you," she explained. "She is in the middle of a psychotic break. Believe me, I know what I am talking about. 'Xena', the actual Xena, once experienced the same thing herself, it is a long story, even if it did work out in the end, she spent a year without _any_ sense of self and created a whole new identity that was not her in the least little bit. I do not want the same thing happening to Emma. Eventually, as she loses whatever hold she still retains of her sense of self, more of 'Gabrielle' will surface and take over. Until the only thing remaining of 'Emma' will be her name on her driver's license. And before you start saying that may not be such a bad thing; Gabrielle had quite a few flaws, but one glaring difference to Emma. Gabrielle is absolutely obsessed with Xena and everything having to do with her hero. To the same degree that the two of you are obsessed with love and hope."

"So, she'll…" Snow seemed to be afraid of the very question she was trying to ask.

"She won't be my slave or anything, if that is what you're afraid of," she quickly allayed those fears. "But she'll make other changes to her lifestyle and lets just say that Gabrielle left her parents and family and home to travel with Xena, after meeting her once and knowing her for less than an hour of time. She very rarely ever visited her home village in the years to follow."

"Right," both Charmings nodded. "So, back to how we can help Emma?"

-~O~-

"Swan?"

Awoken by the name she still knew as her own, she jumped awake and lashed out at the perceived threat. Only for her fist to be caught by a stronger male hand while a stainless steel hook hovered before her eyes.

"Bloody hell, lass," Killian gasped as he rapidly stepped back from her. "Remind me not to stand too close when waking you in the future. How are you feeling, luv?"

"K-Kil-Killian?" the blue-eyed blond blinked and shook her head. "What happened? I was with Xena and then…"

"I think you mean 'Regina' there, luv," he said, stepping forward. "There's been some talk of what happened and what you did to help the Evil Queen."

"Don't call her that!" Gabrielle/Emma snapped. Then she did a double-take at her own reaction. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I snapped like that. Just… she's not that person anymore, so please, don't call her that."

"Fair enough," he nodded, just as surprised at her reaction, and even more so at the following apology. "So, Swan, what is this about you not being able to remember your own name?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, sliding off the hospital bed and getting to her feet. "I know my name, and there is nothing wrong with my memory. I just did what had to be done to save Xena, and she's alive, so it worked. Good guys win and all that. How long have I been out?"

"Before I answer that," Hook stepped closer, into her personal space, "tell me what your name is. Just to put everyone's fears to rest, you understand."

She rolled her eyes at him and shrugged, but didn't actually meet his eyes, or react to his presence the same way she had begun to recently. That lack of reaction worried him somewhat.

"It's Swan," she said. "Gabrielle Swan. Want my middle name too? Now how long have I been out? It was Xena, wasn't it? She knocked me out, probably 'for my own good', or some centaur-piss reason like that. She always does this!"

Frowning, Hook looked down at her and using his good hand, he forced her to look at him. "It's Emma," he told her. "Your name is Emma. Not Gabrielle. And you told me that you don't actually have a 'middle' name. And for the record, yes, Regina said she knocked you out because apparently you haven't slept for the past two days. ... Emma?"

Her expression had transformed into one big mass of confusion and lost helplessness as he'd been talking, but as he called her name, her eyes refocused and she asked the same question she kept asking, that nobody had really answered yet.

"Who is Emma?" she asked, her voice and eyes begging for the answer.

Taking her by the chin, and seeking only to help her, for her sake, not his, Killian Jones answered her question. "She is the woman that I am in love with. She is the reason that I came back. She is the one thing in this whole world that I love more than anything, even life itself. I love you, Emma Swan…"

The confusion cleared up for a few moments, and a shadow crossed her face, before suddenly she blinked and shook her head, pushing him back.

"Stop it," she begged in a crying voice. "I… I know who… I know my name, I, I am, my name is Gabrielle…" Shaking her head, she retreated from him and began to back out of the room. "You are confusing me. Just, stop it, please. I, I need to find Xena."

"Swan, please, don't…" he started to approach her, but she held up a hand, stopping him.

"Stop," she commanded, a very different light shining in her eyes from what he was used to seeing. "Do not tell me what to do. Now, where is Xena?"

"If you mean _Regina_ ," he stressed the name, "then she's with your parents. They actually asked me to be here when you woke up. Hoping that I might…"

"That you might what?" she snapped. "Confuse me? Make me doubt myself?"

At least she was starting to sound a bit more like the old Swan he remembered, Hook silently mused to himself. He answered the questions she'd asked regardless. "No, to help give you something to remind yourself of who you are. Of who _Emma_ is. I _am_ in love with you Swan, whether you call yourself Emma or Gabrielle, that doesn't change. I just don't want you to go changing on me right when we're starting to get to know one another."

The confusion returned, and for a moment, a very brief moment, he thought that she might stay and talk to him. Then the moment passed and she walked out of the room with the parting words of, "Just… stay away from me, please?"

"Bloody hell," Captain Hook cursed himself, slumping where he stood.

-~O~-

"Xena!"

They all froze at the cry. So much for Hook, they were all thinking. But then again, it was still too new to be much of an anchor, Regina knew. They needed to remind the woman of exactly _who_ Emma Swan was. There might be a lot of emotional backlash, but in the end it would be better for everyone.

"There you are," Gabrielle/Emma said as she ran up to the group. "What the hell were you thinking? You could have just told me to get some rest or something, you didn't need to knock me out, y'know. What is this? What's going on?"

"Emma," Snow said, stepping forward to begin. "Do you truly not see what is going on? Don't you understand what has happened to you?"

"I…" the blond shook her head, "Who is Emma?"

"My daughter," Snow answered. Regina had told them that when she kept repeating that question, she wasn't just asking because she didn't recognize her own name, rather she was genuinely asking them who _Emma_ even was, to them, to everyone, to herself.

"You found us, you broke the Dark Curse, you brought back everyone's memories and happy endings," she continued in a torrent. "You, Emma, lived with me for nearly a year, in my apartment. We talked about all sorts of things that mothers and daughters probably shouldn't talk about, but we're friends. Emma Swan is my friend, and my daughter. I named you Emma before you were even born, I sewed it into your baby blanket. Your name is Emma."

"I…" Gabrielle/Emma actually swooned, standing there before them. "What… No, I… Xena, why are… Wait, no, Xena is the one to break the Dark Curse. She, she kissed Henry with True Love's kiss, after she saved him from Callisto's attack. Callisto? No, she's dead, Z, Z, Z something. Green Witch? Greenwich Village?" Suddenly her entire demeanor changed and she started talking in a young, enthusiastic voice, her eyes glazed over in memory. "You've got to take me with you! Teach me everything you know. You can't keep me here. Xena, I'm not cut out for this village life! I was born to do so much more. I don't belong there, Xena. I'm not the little girl my parents wanted me to be. You wouldn't understand..."

Then she keeled over on the ground.

"OK, that did not work," Henry pronounced as he and the others raced over to pick his mother up off the floor.

"No, it did not," Regina agreed.

"What just happened?" David shouted, standing back as he placed Emma on a nearby chair so that the others could more easily get to her.

"I underestimated just how disconnected 'Emma' has become," Regina stated, examining her soulmate with the greatest of care. "And just how deeply rooted 'Gabrielle' is. We can't confront her like this again. She just might lose herself entirely and latch onto one of her other lives to further escape whatever it is she's trying to let go of."

"You think… is this my fault?" Henry asked. "Because I wanted to stay in Storybrooke?"

"No," Regina smiled and took her son and quickly squeezed him in a brief hug. "This is not your fault, Henry. I don't think it really is anyone's _fault_ , it just revealed a flaw in our savior here. The only fault to be had would be if we did nothing to help her with it now."

Most everyone in the group looked to the brunette with surprise in their eyes.

"What?" she snapped at the looks.

"Nothing," Snow deflected. "It's just… you've never really been the most… optimistic person, let alone encouraging. And what you said just now, well… That was very encouraging."

"Shut up," the former Evil Queen snapped, a light blush coloring her cheeks.

"... Xena…?" the confused Savior moaned.

"Time to try a different tactic," Regina decided. "I'll try and keep everyone in the loop."

With that said, she raised both arms and snapped her fingers. In tandem with the movement, purple smoke, lighter and brighter than any had seen it looking before, swirled up around the woman's ankles and quickly covered herself and her soulmate, disappearing just as quickly and leaving everyone standing there staring at the empty spot they'd left behind.

"She always was... forceful," Henry remarked, thinking about Xena.

-~O~-

When she came to, she wasn't sure who she was anymore, but at least the headache was (mostly) gone. This time she sensed no hostile presence near her, only a very familiar one. Sitting up slowly, she took the time to take in her surroundings before finally turning to face the only other person in the room.

Though the walls were the same as what she had in her office, the lack of windows and different furniture told her that she was actually in the Evil Queen's Vault, under the cemetery. She'd never actually been in this part of it before, but she knew that there was a 'suite' part of the vault. That was most likely where they were at the moment. Getting up off the couch where she'd been lain, the product of True Love turned to face her soulmate and was momentarily surprised to see her dressed in a slightly different ensemble from normal.

"Xena," Gabrielle/Emma said, stepping closer to the brunette. "What happened?"

"My name," the woman said in a dark and foreboding tone as she turned around, "is Regina. _Queen_ Regina, and you would do well to remember that, my dear."

"What's with the get-up?" she asked.

Regina glanced down at her ensemble, arching one perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her blood red and black corseted gown, slim and tight in the right places, a modern take on some of her less formal dresses she'd worn back in the Enchanted Forest, with a deep, eye-catching neckline, slit up the side to reveal stockinged legs, and embroidered jewels that practically sparkled as she moved. A few rings, necklaces and earrings completed the picture, minus the crown/tiara of course.

"I have no idea what you are referring to," she said, fully embracing the front she'd shown to the world during her years as the 'Evil Queen'. "It is you who is in the wrong attire, my dear."

"I, Xena, what are you talking about? This is what I always wear… right?" she said, fingering her red leather jacket and skinny jeans.

Scoffing, Regina stepped back and directed the young woman's gaze to a nearby mirror. "Look again, my dear. Ask yourself who you are, and see what it is that you _should_ be wearing. These common clothes, or the garb," Regina waved her hands and transferred the conjured clothes she'd prepared beforehand onto Emma's body, switched with the clothes that she was presently wearing, "of an Amazon Princess?"

A swirl of smoke later, Emma stared, wide-eyed, at her reflection. She, her body, was wearing the little green top and knee-length russet colored skirt that Gabrielle was known for. But it was _Emma_ that was wearing it. Reaching up, she ran a hand across her tight abdomen, while the other hand softly caressed her face. Memories, images, impressions, emotions, they all swam through her head, millions of them each in a single moment, but one resounding fact made itself perfectly clear in the wake of the onslaught.

This wasn't right. This wasn't _her_! Not anymore.

"Change it back."

"Speak up my dear, I cannot hear you," Regina said to the blond amazon's whimper.

"Change it back," she said more clearly. Fists clenched, she continued to stare at the distorted reflection, every muscle in her body suddenly tensing. The lighting around the suite flickered a bit, but nothing that couldn't be explained away by it being an underground bunker with a spotty power supply. As the reformed Evil Queen looked on, the blond's whole body began to tremble. Stepping up behind her, she subtly cast a glamour on the mirror so that, despite her clothes not actually changing, her reflection would show 'Regina' wearing Xena's trademark brown leather armor.

"Change what? Isn't this who you are? Who we are? The Warrior Princess and her Amazon Princess companion?" the brunette challenged, silently hoping and praying that this would work. With Xena, her recovered memories only came when she and Gabrielle were reunited and the Rhinegold had been returned to its original form and to the Rhine Maidens' possession. That was not what was happening here, and 'Regina' and 'Emma' had never been as close as 'Xena' and 'Gabrielle' had been, but then again, who ever could be as close as those two were?

"No," Emma shook her head. Gabrielle frowned and then lashed out and punched the reflection in the mirror, shouting, "CHANGE IT BACK!"

Even as the glass shattered and fell to the floor, Regina unleashed her magic and a swirl of smoke later, she and Emma were both back in their original attire, she a black power suit with three inch heels and a burgundy colored silk blouse, while the blond was back in her red leather jacket and skinny jeans with heeled boots and white work shirt. The mirror was fixed as an after-thought. The no-longer-Evil-Queen stepped back and allowed her soulmate a brief time to collect herself and look at herself in the restored mirror. It seemed to be all the anchor she needed, for the moment.

"That… that wasn't me," she stuttered after the violet mist had faded and Emma Swan in her red jacket and skinny jeans stared back at her reflection.

Regina, after at least a minute or more to give the younger woman the time she needed, stepped up behind her, looking over the blond's shoulder into the mirror at their reflections. "At least you're not so far gone that you can't recognize yourself anymore," she said. "Can you tell me your name?"

"I…" she stopped speaking and looked at the reflection of blond and brunette standing side by side. "I don't understand what is going on. Why am… why… _Who is Emma_?!" she shouted.

Embracing the female form from behind, Regina whispered into her ear, "Emma Swan is the Savior. Emma is the Sheriff of Storybrooke. Emma, is the mother of my son, Henry. She is kind, compassionate, strong, selfless and despite the whole world being against her at times, she always manages to do the right thing in the end. Emma, _you_ are a good person. A hero. And you've always stood up to me. It always used to get on my nerves, how you'd never bow down, you've never feared me, in fact you always made it a point to stand against me whenever I was in the wrong. When I was doing wrong. Even when I thought I was doing the right things, if it was wrong in any way, you would oppose me and stand there and do your damnedest to try and stop me. You never really did, not without a lot of help, but you'd try."

"I wanted to save you from the darkness," she whispered, as though in a trance.

" _Emma_ ," Regina corrected, "wanted to protect her son from a woman that she saw didn't truly love him. She wanted her son to be happy and saw that he wasn't, and saw the evil adopted mother as the one thing keeping him from his happiness. When did you want to save me? Truly save _me_ , not just Henry?"

"I… from the moment I, no, that was…" she trailed off, her eyes shooting back and forth, rolling around as her thoughts raced through memories and emotions. "When… when I learned the truth… about you, I think. What… what your mother, what… Cora did. Before then, I just, I think I wanted to give you the chance that you denied me, with Henry, and then I… and the, the thing with Archie… Archie? No, he's Hanuman. Or is he Eli? I think he's Hanuman…"

"Emma," Regina held her tighter to stop the blathering. "When did you want to save _me_?"

Looking into her reflected brown eyes, she answered, "Before Neverland. Before we… before I had to face everything and… embrace being the Savior. Before it mattered, but…"

"But after," she sighed and stared back into those sad blue/green eyes, "after my mother was dead. After… I was still a villain."

"But you're not a villain anymore!" Emma shouted, turning in her arms and embracing her right back, refusing to step away or allow her to step away either. "You are a hero, do you hear me, Regina? You broke the curse this time! You used light magic and defeated the Wicked Witch! You spared her after everything that she did and what happened! You stopped me from taking that step to… to…"

"To killing her, legal or not," Regina finished for her. Then she tilted her head and smirked that cocky little smile she got when she'd heard something pleasing. "Did you just call me 'Regina'?"

"I, well, yes, it is your name and…" Emma stopped and started blinking. A lot. "Oh."

"How's the memory, Miss Swan?" she asked, letting her arms drop and stepping back.

Or at least, she tried to.

"Miss Swan, you can let go of me now," Regina snapped.

"Oh," Emma said as she finally stopped blinking, a stunned look settling on her face. "Well, that is… huh."

"What are you going on about? And would you let go of me already?"

Facing the woman in her arms again, the blond seemed to come to herself. No special effects needed, of course. Emma finally let go of Regina and stepped back, saying, "Sorry. Was kind of… lost in thought, I guess."

"I could see that," she snapped. "Now, what was that about? What were you remembering as you… remembered yourself, for lack of a better term?"

"Well, it is kind of fading, a bit, but," Emma shrugged, putting her hands in her jean pockets. "I've been going over everybody in my life and I kind of… recognize who they, well who they _were_ in some of my past lives. Hook, well, he's, believe it or not, I think he's Draco. Or was Draco. As for Henry aka Joxer, he's right, he has been in our lives, in some capacity, for as long as Calisto, aka Eve, aka Zelena has been. Y'know, I didn't think the whole cycle of rebirth thing meant that we _literally_ get reborn into _different worlds_! How the heck is it that we're both from Fairy Tale land this time around? And yet, still end up in this world?"

"Don't ask me, I'm not in charge of these things," Regina shrugged. "I'm just trying to follow my 'Way', remember?"

"Except, you haven't been, have you?" Emma challenged her.

"I was… _am_ a Queen," she defended herself. "I may have, briefly, adopted the moniker of Evil Queen to help me in maintaining my thrown, but I still follow the way of royalty."

"No, I think you're still hung up on the 'Way' of motherhood, if you ask me," came the response. "Not that there is anything wrong with that, but we've seriously got to figure out what to do with you. Riding around the countryside beating up bandits isn't exactly going to work in this day and age. Though it would probably be a real big hit with your new boyfriend."

"Says the woman reportedly dating _Draco_?"

"We are not dating!" Emma snapped.

"Well, what about your parents?" Regina allowed the subject to change. "Did you recognize them, yet? I've actually given it some thought, but nothing is coming to mind."

"They're actually new souls, I think," she answered. "Could be reincarnated angels or something. I don't know how this works, but this is the first time I've met 'them', if you know what I mean? Now, Grumpy on the other hand, pretty sure that he's Odysseus. Something about the way that he looks at that fairy… Not to mention there's his boat."

"Good thing he never goes anywhere with it," Regina remarked. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Like… Emma," she answered with a nod. "Thanks for the reminder. I was almost afraid you'd try and start up an argument again, for old times sake."

"Arguments that you always lost," the dark haired woman smirked, hands on her shapely hips.

"Only because you'd always end them by threatening to keep Henry away from me," the blond in tight pants shot back, stepping closer.

"Yes, about that, where _are_ you going to live now that you're back in Storybrooke, to stay? Really, Emma, moving in with your parents, at your age?"

"Well, we do have a lot of time to make up for, if you'll recall?"

"I apologized for all of that, I'll have you know!"

"Yes, and you're forgiven. Mostly. Doesn't change the fact that we've got a lot of time to make up for. Still, you're right, moving in with a couple with a newborn in the house? Not my idea of good family fun. Not a lot of listings in Storybrooke, if I remember correctly from my first time in town. Why, you got an offer on some place?"

"You could," the brunette shrugged, hands still on her hips (a pose that the now-whole Emma recognized more as 'Xena' than 'Regina'), "and only if you wanted to, move into the mansion with me. After all, Henry's room is still there. Exactly the way he left it as a matter of fact. And I do have guest rooms that I've never really done anything with. Besides, it makes sense that both of his 'parents' should live together in the same place. Together with him, I mean,"she quickly amended with a light blush coloring her cheeks.

"Are you asking me to move in with you?" the blond asked, stepping closer.

"It wouldn't be the first time we've been in close living quarters. Well, it would be in this lifetime, but… you know what I mean." Regina said, finally dropping her hands. "I miss him and, knowing what we do about each other now… it changes things. I… I am asking if you and Henry would move in with m-!"

Emma didn't let her finish, surging forward and grabbing the other woman by her face and drawing her in for a deep and passionate and love filled kiss.

Regina struggled and finally managed to break free long enough to gasp out, "Ms. Swan! We're, we are both women, and, and we are not like that this time around! Besides, we've already indulged in that kind of life when we were Harry and Mattie!"

"I think you mean Annie and Mattie," Emma smiled, and then stole another kiss.

"No, stop it!" Regina managed after pulling away again. "We can't do this! You're, you have Hook, and I'm, I actually do care for Robin a great deal. I'm in love with him!"

"And you're my soulmate," Emma shot down and drew her in for a much longer, deeper kiss.

"...If you don't stop doing that, I will teleport us straight to your parents, Miss Swan!" Regina 'threatened'.

"Think they'll want to watch? I never really thought of them as kinky," Emma joked.

"Henry is probably with them."

"He's Joxer," she reminded. "He's _definitely_ going to want to watch."

"Probably hope for another body switch, the pervert," Regina agreed, this time initiating the kiss herself, and evolving it to open-mouthed.

After a minute… or more, of this, Emma was the one to ask between gasping breaths, "We're not stopping. Did you still want us to stop? Or should we, y'know, experiment or whatever?"

"I think," she gasped her reply between kisses, "that, it was, mm, way too soon, for us, to, be, alone together!"

"I agree."

"We should stop."

"I agree."

"We're not...mmm… stopping."

"I agree!"

Fortunately, for more than just their own sake or other people's sanity and love lives, they were interrupted by a loud pounding from the outside door. Turning and looking, one of the mirrors turned two-way and they saw Henry, Charming, Hook and Robin all there in the lower vault area, calling out for the two women.

"Honeymoon's over," Emma sighed in disappointment.

"In more ways than one," Regina said with some mild regret, caressing the blonds tresses. "I love you, Emma. But… not that way. Not in this life. You'll always be my soulmate. My Gabrielle. But… I still have to earn my redemption here, in this life. I hope you'll help me find my Way, and keep to it. Like you always do."

"I always do," Emma agreed, leaning her forehead against her soulmate's. "And I always will."

"Time to face the music," Regina said as she pulled back and prepared to open the secret entrance to the suite.

Smirking, Emma asked, "Don't you want to fix your makeup first?"

-~O~-

"So, you're back to normal?"

The question was asked by her father, but it was clearly the subject on most everyone's minds at the moment.

"Yes, I am back to normal," Emma sighed, exasperated, and more than a little embarrassed. "I am _Emma_ Swan, and she is _Regina_ , not Xena."

"Just curious, who am I?" Henry asked, begging for a compliment.

"Hm, Annie?" she teased him, which he scowled at. "Oh all right, it's Henry the Heroic."

"Yeah, she's back to normal," he pronounced.

"So, uh, back to my original question?" the nursing Snow White changed the subject suddenly.

"Really?" Emma deadpanned. "You want to talk about that _now_? _Here_?"

They were in the middle of the diner, the morning after Emma's little identity crisis, the whole Charming clan, plus Evil Queen, minus Gold, meeting for breakfast. It was also to partly celebrate Snow and the baby's release from the hospital. The actual party to celebrate the victory over the Wicked Witch and saving of the 'kingdom' was scheduled for later in the week.

"You've been avoiding me, and this is the first time that I've had a moment to see you since you, well, regained your sense of self," Snow said. "So, what are you and Regina going to do now? Now that you know you are each other's soulmates?"

"Indeed, Swan," Killian spoke up as he sat down next to the Sheriff. "What will you do now? I feel that I, in particular, have a vested interest in this subject, so I would most definitely desire to know the answer."

"I too am curious as to how you will react to this new information," Robin voiced, having come in with and been sat next to Regina for the entire meal thus far.

Regina paused and grabbed Robin by his chin and looked deeply into his eyes. She nodded and smirked and said to Emma, "He's definitely not Autolycus."

"Who is Autolycus?" Robin asked.

"The King of Thieves," Emma, Henry and Regina all answered at once.

"The original 'you' in other words," Emma clarified.

"Ah," Robin nodded. "A bit of a rogue then."

"Let's just say he had a good heart, but the rest of him was all thief," Emma smirked.

"Dare I ask if…" Hook hesitated to finish the question.

"We're not soulmates, but I kind of… recognize you, if you know what I mean?" she shrugged. "Met occasionally, here and there. Last time we actually knew each other, ironically enough, was when I was Gabrielle and Regina was Xena. And don't bother asking who you were. As everyone just spent the past day reminding me, it isn't about who we _were_ , but who we _are_ , in this life. I am Emma, you are Killian, that's all there is to it."

"Here, here," the one-handed pirate cheered the offered toast.

"You're avoiding the question," Snow pointed out.

"Mm, quite brilliantly if I do say so myself," the daughter replied to her mother.

"We're soulmates, Snow," Regina finally answered the question. "We'll always love each other and be in one another's life. Or lives, as the case may be. But neither one of us are homosexual."

"In this lifetime," Emma mumbled into her glass, earning a glare from her soulmate.

"And are in fact currently interested, and invested with other prospects at the moment," she continued as though the Savior hadn't spoken. "The short answer is; we're friends. Beyond that, we're still friends but nothing more, at the moment."

"What of us, and Tinkerbell's trick with the pixie dust?" Robin couldn't help asking.

"He's totally Marcus," Emma decided.

"Swan!" Regina snapped.

"Right, never mind that stuff then," the blond shook her head.

"So, you're just… friends?" Snow asked, sounding part-disappointed, part-relieved. No one could quite be sure which was the larger part.

"It is enough," both women replied to the question.

And yet, everyone in the diner could hear, loud and clear, the unspoken, ' _for now..._ '.

END


	2. Portal

Portal:

(Disclaimer: Spoilers for OUAT Season 3 Finale episodes "Snow Drifts/There's No Place Like Home")

 _The potluck at Granny's Diner was a joyous occasion that everyone was invited to. To celebrate not only the defeat of the Wicked Witch and all of her curses and evil magic being reversed, but also the birth of Snow White and Prince Charming's second child._

" _Ding dong!" Leroy crowed as he clacked plastic beer mugs with Granny._

" _So she's really…?" the Widow Lucas questioned._

" _Oh yeah," the dwarf confirmed. "That witch is done. That's a good thing, because if that_ _Sleeping Beauty had been a_ _monkey a day longer, she would've had a monkey baby. Wouldn't want to change those diapers!"_

 _Every conversation was as animated and happy and mostly about the same subject, the defeat of Zelena and how all the magic she'd cast had since been reversed or undone. In one corner of the Diner, however, the Charming clan were gathered around the new baby as Henry read from his storybook. One story in particular, one that could be said to have started it all; the story of how Snow White met Prince Charming._

" _And that's when the bandit leaped on top of the carriage and stole the Prince's jewels. As the Prince chased the thief on horseback through the treacherous forest," Henry read aloud for his baby… uncle. Halfway through, Emma and Hook entered and walked up, catching the end of it and recognizing the story immediately._

" _Really?" Emma said, exasperated. "I can't hear the kid's name yet, but I have to hear this story again?"_

 _David chuckled and said, "Well, my son should know where he comes from."_

" _Are you sure you want the first thing he knows to be that his parents fell in love during an armed robbery?" Emma pointed out, teasing._

" _I wasn't armed!" Snow protested._

" _Except with a rock," Ruby reminded her._

" _I still have the scar!" David exclaimed._

" _Which healed," she defended herself, and then said to the baby in her arms, "But that's just how we met. It's not how we fell in love."_

" _Yeah, that was a bit more complicated," David said as he leaned over and turned to one specific page in the book. "See? There were Black Knights, and I saved your mother's life."_

" _Oh," Snow said, turning to the next paged depicting the troll bridge, "And the attack on the Troll Bridge when I saved his."_

" _But it wasn't until I saw my mother's ring on her finger that I knew in my heart there was no other woman I would ever love," he finished, turning to the last page of that story._

" _You should've told me then. We would have saved so much time," she smiled lovingly at her husband._

" _Well, how could I? I had to get to my wedding," he excused._

 _Looking only half as confused as he really was, Hook spoke up and asked, "Sorry, did I miss something? You were previously betrothed, mate?"_

 _Pointing, Red answered in passing, "To Kathryn," She gestured across the diner to where Kathryn is chatting with Granny. "Though, she was Princess Abigail back then."_

" _King Midas's daughter?" the pirate said, agape. "The man who can turn anything into gold? Why would you leave that opportunity?"_

" _Hey!" Snow snapped, offended._

" _Well, what can I say, my heart was destined for another," Prince Charming said charmingly._

" _You just had to find her first," Ruby laughed. "She ran away and was living on a farm."_

" _Oh, that sounded like such a peaceful life at the time," Snow admitted, eyes glazed over in memory as she smiled at her own naivety. "Leave everyone and everything behind."_

" _Like mother, like daughter," Killian commented with a shrug, recalling recent conversations he'd had with the woman standing next to him._

" _Hook!" said woman snapped at him, glaring._

 _Henry looked up and asked, worried, "What is he talking about?"_

 _Emma hemmed and hawed for a few seconds, looking like the proverbial mouse trapped between a rock and a hard place, and the pack of cats about to eat her. Picking up on his daughter's hesitation and the situation that she was creating with her silence, he sought to distract everyone and grabbed the book, saying, "Uh, should we read more stories…"_

 _Before he can actually do or suggest anything, Regina and Robin walked up from nearby and the recently-revealed-soulmate-to-his-daughter stated, "Actually, I'd like to know what the pirate is talking about."_

" _It's nothing," she deflected, shaking her head and refusing to meet anyone's eyes._

" _You're not planning on going back to New York, are you?" the reincarnated Xena demanded._

" _Why would we go back to New York?" Henry asked before his mother could answer._

" _You're not," Regina said, smiling at her son, before turning to the blond and asking in a harsher tone, "Right, Ms. Swan?"_

" _Actually, it's complicated," Emma answered, actually cringing away from everybody._

" _Why would we leave? This is our home!" Henry insisted._

" _Henry, this isn't the time or place," Emma said, playing her mother-card._

" _I think it is," Regina countered with her own mother-card, and upped the ante by shooting the reincarnated Gabrielle one of Xena's trademarked glares._

" _No, it's not," she shook her head and then turned and left before anybody could stop her._

" _I'll talk to her," Hook said, getting up to follow the woman he'd been chasing for months now, though one could argue it had been for a few years by this point._

"No," Regina stopped him, much to everyone's surprise. She gave Robin's hand a squeeze and smiled up at him for a moment before turning back to the rest and heading toward the door herself. "I think we all know by now that I know Ms. Swan… Emma, a lot better than anybody here could. I'm familiar with this attitude, as a matter of fact. I'll talk to her."

"Wait," Henry called, holding out the book, "take this. It might help her remember where she belongs."

Accepting the token, Regina tucked the book under one arm and then hurried to chase after her soulmate, who she knew would already be out of sight. Nevertheless, she was confident she could find her rather quickly.

Back in the Diner, David was saying, "It's gonna be alright. She's just stubborn like her mo-" he stopped mid-word, looked down at his wife, who was looking up at him expectantly, and finally finished with, "Like all of our family."

They all shared a brief chuckle at the slip of the tongue. That is, until Henry looked up, out the window, and it was only due to his unique perspective and position that he was able to notice it at all.

"Uh, Grandpa?" he called, a worried tremble to his voice.

"Hm?" he replied, most of his attention focused on the baby.

"Look," he pointed outside the window to a strange stream of yellow light bisecting the horizon and shooting straight up into the sky. "What is that?"

Right at that moment, Mr. Gold and his fiance, Belle, walked into the Diner, intent on joining the party in progress, but the immediate problem forestalled that endeavor.

" _That_ is a problem," Gold answered. "That light is from Zelena's time portal. It's open."

-~O~-

The trial and summary execution hadn't taken as long as most had expected it too. Zelena's 'peers' consisted of the extremely small number of people she hadn't directly terrorized or afflicted with one curse or another, and while there were a lot more people in Storybrooke than most might think, it was surprising when you began to eliminate not just the victims, but the families and close friends of the victims as well, they barely managed to scrape together 12 objective jurors. On the other hand, everyone involved in the case, both the Prosecution and the duly-assigned Defense, were uniquely motivated in this case.

Therefore, putting the trial together had taken a grand total of thirty hours, from the moment Emma announced there was going to be a trial to the Judge, to the moment of the opening remarks of the legal proceedings. That included the appointment of a defense attorney, jury selection and evidence issues.

The actual trial, following all the rules and laws to textbook perfect 'T', had taken no more than 72 hours, from start to finish, exactly three sessions; the opening statements, prosecution case-in-chief, cross-examination, and the point at which the prosecution rests was completed on the first day, taking up well over ten hours of time, not counting breaks and recesses. The second day consisted of the defense case-in-chief, cross-examination, defense rests and prosecution rebuttal, and took about an hour, _counting_ the recess and lunch break. The third day was reserved for jury deliberations and sentencing, seeing as they were in and out inside of fifteen minutes, the majority of which the 'rules' of being a jury were being explained to them. She was executed by the duly-deputized Mr. Gold, aka Rumpelstiltskin, aka the Dark One at sundown of the third day.

The town had about a day to catch its collective breath and let out a sigh of relief, and then it was party time. What none could know, until Henry spotted it the morning of said aforementioned party day, was that during the night, thanks to Zelena no longer being alive and her magic no longer having a tether to bind it, her pendant and thus magic were unleashed, carrying out her last wish; opening a time portal.

Regina was there for the whole thing, as was the entire Charming Clan as a matter of fact. She, as the primary victim, or target as the case may be, was one of the key witnesses. And though she remembered times when she and Zelena's soul had not been enemies, nothing could change what she'd done in _this lifetime_ , and the reincarnation of the Warrior Princess had no issues whatsoever with the woman facing justice for her crimes.

Emma, despite an occasional moment of calling certain people by different names, also stood as witness and likewise had no issue with deputizing Gold for the ugly duty of executing the Wicked Witch. Some might have called her hypocritical, until she calmly reminded them all that the woman _would_ be executed, and who better than the one being that could do it and nobody could stop from doing it? There were still naysayers, but after a lengthy (3-day) heartfelt conversation, Belle, the one most able to curb the Dark One's dark impulses, gave her blessing and 'permission' to carry out the execution. Considering she was also the one holding the Dark One's dagger, at his insistence, that made it all the clearer to the townsfolk.

After, everyone went home and were grateful that Rumpelstiltskin carried it out so there wasn't much, or any really, body left to bury or do anything with. Speaking of whom, was likewise there for all three days, and was all too pleased to give his testimony and add the proverbial nails to the witch's coffin. He'd done everything in his power, short of bribe the officials, to ensure his enemy's destruction at his hands, which in this case meant providing testimony and helping the Prosecution come up with all manner of Death-Sentence-deserving charges, not the least of which was causing the death of his son.

Everyone else that could attend did, whether as witness or merely a member of the audience. (They had to fill the Defense side of the courtroom _somehow_ after all).

After it was all over, everyone had been looking forward to the party at Granny's… until the Savior stormed out, her newly revealed soulmate chased after her, and everyone finally noticed the light in the sky. Safe to say the party was over by that point.

Regina, however, never noticed or bothered looking up in the sky after leaving the Diner. Her head was to close to the ground, so to speak, following her soulmate's trail. In all honesty, she'd expected the blond woman to go back to hers and Mary Margaret's apartment after all of this. Something that 'Emma' and 'Gabrielle' both treasured above everything else was that sense of family of… of " _Home"_ that she longed for.

Except, Emma didn't go 'home', nor had she gone back to her room that she'd rented at the Bed&Breakfast, the one she'd been living in with Henry since coming back to Storybrooke this last time.

Come to think of it, Regina never did elaborate on her… offer, and Henry, unaware of such an offer, was looking for apartments or houses to rent in town. A new restless spirit had taken hold in the Savior, one that enhanced her natural tendency to run and keep moving rather than bind her closer to her loved ones as had been expected. She'd only shared this with Killian so far, and that was just because she was in a sharing mood at the time. She'd even invited him along, as her restless spirit was calling for adventure, and who better to go on an adventure with then Captain Hook of Neverland?

And then there was the confrontation in the diner and her desire to run became overwhelming, so she ran. Initially she headed toward the docks, but then she turned at the last second towards the woods, crossing the toll bridge to the deeper woods surrounding Storybrooke until she was pretty close to the border. She didn't cross it though, just… strolling along the edge, daring herself, but never actually taking that step.

Regina found her as she was nearing the southern part of town, where the farmland started.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked, appearing right in front of the Sheriff. Unlike when she normally appeared out of nowhere, however, this time she'd actually just snuck up on her rather than teleporting in a cloud of purple smoke with magic.

"I forgot how much I used to hate that," Emma said through gritted teeth, fists clenched.

"Hate what?" Regina asked with an impish grin on her face.

Emma just glared and stalked past the other woman.

"Is this about the kiss? Or because you and Henry haven't moved in yet? It has been a busy week, I'll have you know," Regina called after her, turning to follow.

"Why would any of this have to do with the fact that you and I made out with one another in your private vault-suite?" Emma sarcastically remarked.

"You kissed me," Regina snapped defensively.

"You kissed me back!" Emma accused. "Then you invited me and Henry to move in with you! Then you went on a date with Robin Hood!"

"I have already explained why this won't… why this _can't_ happen, Emma!" Regina snapped. "This isn't _us_ anymore. I mean, we aren't like that in this lifetime, and allowing past feelings to confuse the issue will just…"

"Are you even listening to yourself right now?" Emma interrupted her, angry.

Rather than reply, Regina just stopped talking and kept pace at the Sheriff's side.

"Why are you really here? Did you follow me?" the blond finally asked after a few minutes silence.

"Henry sent me, gave me this, to remind you where you come from. Where your family comes from. Where we all come from," Regina answered, handing over the book. "And for the record, I tracked you. You used to be much better at running, as I recall."

"I… I expected Hook, or one of my parents to come after me," she admitted, keeping her eyes down at the book in her hands.

"You should know me better than that," she replied.

"Well, after this past week, I think I know you pretty well," Emma remarked.

"And I, you," Regina replied.

"How the hell is it that we're friends again?" she asked. "I mean, we are _so_ different! Every lifetime, one of us is dark, the other is light. Always Yin and Yang. You were Xena, Warrior Princess, I was Gabrielle, a wanderlust teenage villager until you turned me into the Battling Bard of Potidaea. Next, you were Arminestra, the Mother of Peace, a quite literal _saint_. I was basically what was the India-version of a warlord named Shakti. Which is a girl's name, by the way."

"I know, I remember," Regina nodded, letting her friend get it out of her system.

"Next life, I was a Russian peasant girl, and you were her military 'uncle' that helped set up the Russian Royalty lineage. Then we were random strangers in Europe during the Dark Ages, and sometimes you were an 'evil' king/duke/warlord/noble, whatever, and I was the peasant/knight/noble/lady, whatever that 'inspired' you to change your ways. Then the rest of the time, you were the peasant/knight/noble/prince/lady that stopped some insane witchy-version of me from wiping out the world with plagues and stuff."

"That's a bit overdramatic for what actually happened in that particular life…" Regina tried to console her, but Emma shook it off and interrupted.

"That isn't the point!" she snapped.

"Then please, elaborate," Regina requested, trusting her instincts at the moment that her friend just needed to let off some steam before getting at the heart of the matter.

"Once upon a time, and yes I know how whimsical it is for me of all people to be using that term, the two of us… our lives, our _Lives_ started from humble beginnings and then we took it and transformed it into these amazing adventures. We were both _peasants_! And even Harry and Mattie could be said to be little more than simple townsfolk. Living in Hollywood during the sixties aside that is."

"Your point, Miss Swan?" Regina was beginning to get a bit impatient.

"We're royalty now," said Emma. "Or at least we were supposed to be. And now our lives, with a Fairy Tale twist to it, is practically a mirror of when we were Xena and Gabrielle! Except…"

"Except you seem to think that we aren't friends this time around," she observed.

"We are friends," Emma insisted. "We just…"

"Weren't immediate friends like when we were Xena and Gabrielle," she nodded. "Except. Xena and Gabrielle weren't 'friends' at first either. Gabrielle saw Xena as a means to an end, a way to get out of her peasant life. I don't think they really became friends until after they'd been travelling together for more than a month or so. And Xena didn't know how good she had it until… well, until that friendship was first tested and Gabrielle 'went home' for a little while and met Meleager."

Emma sat up, startled as she realized something that had been unknowingly niggling at her for days now.

"What is it?" Regina asked.

"Meleager! That's who…! Wow, I am never telling her," Emma spoke cryptically.

"What are you talking about?" Regina insisted.

"Meleager," she replied. "That is who my Mom is. My mom, Snow White, is the reincarnation of Meleager the Mighty!" They both started laughing at that.

"Strangely, it fits," Regina cackled.

"Well, he was like a father to Gabrielle," the blond chuckled a bit, restraining her laughter. "Anyway… we're getting off the point. When we first met in this lifetime, we hated each other, and we were fighting over the reincarnation of Joxer!"

"When you say it like that, it sounds so much worse," Regina shivered. "But things are different now, yes?"

"Yes," Emma nodded. "We are friends. But…" She looked down at the storybook in her lap, drumming her fingers on the cover.

"But that isn't enough for you to stay, is that it?" Regina accused her. "Henry said to give that to you to remind you where you belong. I think he's right. You need to understand where you come from before you can know where you're going."

"Where I come from," she scoffed, glaring down at the leatherbound book in her hands. "Real funny, Joxer. You know what I see when I look at this? Fairy tales. Stories. None of it… _me_! This isn't home to me, Regina. I don't think it ever has been."

They sat down on a nearby fallen log. Emma opened the book and flipped through it to the image depicting the oncoming curse. "Look at this!" she said. "Stories of heroes and villains, princes and princesses, witches and wizards. I was never a part of any of this."

"Then what _are_ you a part of, Emma?" Regina asked, sitting down beside her soulmate.

"Besides being with Henry for the last year, and finding out that we're soulmates…" she hesitated in saying it, but she did say it, "... I don't think I've ever been a part of anything."

Regina wasn't sure what to say for a moment. Something 'Regina' would say would undoubtedly be cutting and sarcastic and force the woman to shut down. Something 'Xena' would say would probably be guarded and encouraging, but twist it around so the blond was trying to comfort the brunette more than the other way around. Finally she settled with something in between and hope for the best.

"You could be," she offered, taking the other woman's hand in hers.

Sighing, Emma allowed their fingers to interlace as she said, "Look, when I was a kid, I ran away. It's just what I did. But the first time I did it, I had the same exact thought. I wondered, 'What if I'm making a mistake? What if I miss this place?'"

"And did you?" Regina compassionately cajoled.

"Not the first time," she answered with a sad shake of her head. "Not any time."

"So, you will just keep running away then, is that it?" the dark-haired woman asked.

"I learned something a long time ago," Emma said, before pausing and corrected, "Well, a long time ago for me, not for _us_. I learned that… Home is the place that when you leave, you just _miss it_. So, yeah, I am going to keep running until I feel _that_."

"So you were just going to leave your parents, then? Leave me and whatever other friends you've made in town, and what? Take Henry somewhere 'safe', like New York City? A city with one of the highest death rates in the country? Tell me, Ms. Swan, do you even care about your parents, or anyone in this town?"

"Of course I care!" she defended. "I just have to do what's right for me and Henry and—" Emma stops talking as she catches sight of something out of the corner of her eye. "—What the hell is that?!"

Turning to see what she was talking about, Regina's eyes went wide as they both looked upon the burning beam of light shooting straight up into the sky. "I… don't know, but I don't like it," the reincarnated Warrior Princess remarked.

The pair of soulmates looked back down at each other, unspoken words and messages conveyed with nothing more than a single glance. In the next moment, they were on their feet, the book tucked into the fold's of the blond's red jacket, as they ran flat out for the source of the tower of light, their hands still entwined.

-~O~-

A short yet quick run later, they were at the barn that was the source of the disturbance and proved once and for all that the time portal was indeed open. Emma was charging straight for the door, putting away her phone as she explained to Regina, "It's Zelena's time portal. David left a message. Somehow, when we executed her the other day that triggered it. Something about residual magic and nothing tethering her pendant any longer or stuff like that."

"Her death," Regina nodded, already thinking the problem through. "When she died, when she was gone, the magic in her pendant had no tether. It was set free. Her last wish fulfilled."

"Yeah, that," Emma said, stopping long enough to look back and forth between Regina and the rattling barn, before asking, "So how do we un-fulfill it?"

"I don't know," the reformed Evil Queen admitted. "But this is too dangerous. We should get out of here until we know more."

"Not until we find a way to close it," the Savior argued, stepping closer to the doors.

"Have you lost your mind?" Regina chased after her, grabbing her by the arm. "Do you even have magic to contain something like this?"

"No," Emma quietly admitted, ashamed. "But we can't just leave this like it is, Regina!"

Her cell phone rang, they looked, it was David trying to call her again. Before either of them could do anything other than glance down at the small device, the barn door had finally lost the battle with the uncontrolled forces of the time portal being open and burst inward. It knocked both of them for a loop and before they could properly react, they found themselves being drawn toward the open portal as though it were exerting a gravitational pull upon them.

Scrambling for purchase, they both tried all they could to keep from being dragged into the time portal. Unfortunately neither of them could do much else than claw at the dirt or hang onto each other, which only drew them toward the event-horizon of the time portal all the quicker. It was a coin-toss as to which one actually went over the edge of the portal first.

The last thought that went through Emma's mind was to remember the last moment she had with her family, of Henry reading that story of when her parents first met in the Enchanted Forest...

The last thought that went through Regina's mind was to recall some of her 'reincarnation memories' of her times as Xena, specifically the last time she'd dealt with a 'portal' of this nature. That had been one of her least favorite adventures as a matter of fact…

The moment after both women had vanished over the lip of the portal, a sudden stillness embraced the world, broken only by the buzzing of Emma's cell phone in the dirt outside the barn as her father continued trying to reach her.

To be continued...

(Two options at this point, based upon Reviews, I'll either post just one, or both, or make a separate fic of the second option.

Option A: Emma went first. AKA rewrite of "Snow Drifts" entirely, just with Regina and Emma rather than Hook and Emma, and instead of going to Rumple and being Prince Charles and Princess Leia, they work on their own and are "Lady Xena" and "Queen Gabrielle" and other small differences, but largely the same.

Option B: Regina went first. AKA crossover with Xena: Warrior Princess, set during Final season of though no specific episode, where Regina and Emma meet their past lives and potentially change a lot more than the past and with even less chance of 'getting home'.

Please Read&Review and let me know what you think! Thanks For Reading!)


	3. Option A 1

Option A: Emma Went First

AKA rewrite of "Snow Drifts" entirely, just with Regina and Emma rather than Hook and Emma, and instead of going to Rumple and being Prince Charles and Princess Leia, they work on their own and are "Lady Xena" and "Queen Gabrielle" and other small differences, but largely the same.

-~O~-

Emma fell to the ground with a heavy thud, rolling with the impact through both modern and ancient instincts. Rolling in the grass, she came up quickly, but the first thing she noticed was the trees, followed immediately by the familiar-unfamiliar scent and sensations of the atmosphere. Her mind made connections and jumped to the proper conclusions within moments.

"No!" she cried, still on the ground and just beginning to pick herself up. "No! Ow!" she rubbed at the forming bruises on her arms and legs from the fall. Behind her, Regina was also just getting up, though she kept her vocal responses to a minimum, the frown on her face spoke volumes.

"It would appear," the reformed Evil Queen remarked dryly, "that we are back in the Enchanted Forest. Again. I really hate this place."

Emma, about to retort with a sarcastic 'no duh' type comment, instead turned and arched an intrigued eyebrow at her fellow time traveller. "You're _from_ this place, you were born here, you are a _Queen_ here. It's your home, isn't it? Why would you, of all people, hate it?"

"Because I have never, ever been truly happy here," Regina answered mournfully. "I have only ever been a villain here, and I have only ever been unhappy and tortured by my failures and regrets in this land. So, yes, I hate it here. My home, like yours Ms. Swan, is in Storybrooke."

"Yeah, speaking of," Emma looked around, quickly changing the subject, "looks like the portal didn't stay open for the return trip."

"An unfortunate status quo of all such mediums, I assure you," Regina replied. "It makes returning home a great deal more difficult, but the fact that we actually survived the trip tells me that it is not impossible. Provided that we don't change anything. Question isn't where we are, so much as _when_."

"I think I have a pretty good idea," Emma said, going over to a tree and pulling down an all-too-familiar Wanted poster from it.

"Unfortunately… that doesn't narrow things down as much as I'd like," Regina sighed. "We could be any _when_ during a five year period of time, as those posters remained up until Snow and Charming actually succeeded in taking back their kingdoms. Needless to say, a _lot_ of things happened during this time that had… catastrophic consequences for a great many people, ourselves notwithstanding."

"Regina," Emma deadpanned, "Now is really not the time to be on your high horse. Or throne as the case may be."

"How very droll, my dear," came the biting response. "Perhaps our energies could be better spent doing something actually constructive for once. Such as ways that we might be able to get back?"

"How would I know how to get back to the future? Who do I look like? Marty McFly?!"

"Having actually witnessed the premier of that film, I can assure you Ms. Swan, that if you did look anything like the young Mr. Fox, our kiss would've ended very differently," the brunette gave her a saucy smirk.

"You had a crush on Michael J. Fox?!" Emma's face lit up with a smile that would have to be blasted off with magic, and even then it would probably remain.

Blushing furiously, the reformed Evil Queen snapped, "That is neither here nor there. Besides, as bad as the old west, what chances do you think we have of conjuring a time travelling delorean _here_?! How about an actually useful idea, Ms. Swan?"

"Here's one!" the angry blond retorted before responding with a rude gesture.

Before they could devolve into further argument, they were both startled by the sound of approaching knights on horseback, charging down the road at a full gallop. Regina only said, and only needed to say one word, "Hide!"

Normally, Emma might duck down and try to hide behind a tree. Now that she remembered being an Amazon Queen and a few dozen other past lives that had lived without 'modern' means of hiding or avoiding detection, she went with the most obvious means available; she climbed a tree.

That she shot up the trunk like a squirrel shooting for the top acorn, merely proved that climbing trees had little to do with physical capability and more with skill and knowledge. Regina, on the other hand, actually did a standing backflip almost twelve feet up through the air before latching onto the nearest tree and scrambling up the same way Emma had, only faster, casting some doubt as to whether it was a skill-advantage, or a magical one.

By the time the Black Knights had reached their position, they were both twenty feet up the tree and as still as aforementioned squirrels in the presence of predators.

Emma turned and shot her soulmate a look that quite easily translated to 'What the hell?', the reply to which was a regretful sad look, one that would've been seen on Xena's face whenever her evil past came up. The Savior imagined that the same thing had just happened, only with Regina's past over Xena's.

There was a sudden loud screaming echoing throughout the woods. It sounded like the Black Knights were attacking a nearby village. Sharing a look, Emma and Regina soon launched themselves through the trees in the direction of the screams. It wasn't as smooth as they remembered, mostly because neither of them had actually practised 'flying through the trees' like they had in their past lives and didn't have the same stamina they once did. Nevertheless, they managed to get to the village much sooner than they would've running along the ground.

They witnessed as the Black Knights stormed into each building of the small village and lined them all up alongside the road. Fortunately, the two heroes observed, there hadn't been any deaths or anything worse that a bit of rough handling. Neither one of them were quite sure what they would've done if the Knights had actually hurt the villagers.

Once the rabble were gathered, a black coach pulled up and the door opened, revealing in all her dark and forbidding glory; the Evil Queen. She wore a wide-brimmed hat with a black feather attached to the side, a blood red riding coat over a black velvet blouse and corset. On her legs she wore tight black leather pants that conformed to every curve, and knee-high black riding boots, complete with heeled spurs.

From their perch up in the branches of the trees above the village, Emma whispered quietly to the same woman beside her, "Damn Regina. You _always_ have to look amazing in black leather, don't you?"

"Emma. Shut. Up," the reincarnated Warrior Princess grit out through clenched jaw.

"You still got that outfit back in Storybrooke?" she asked innocently, completely ignoring the tense atmosphere for the moment. Regina shot the blond a death glare, forcing her to back off, for the moment.

"Listen to me very carefully," the Evil Queen spoke, drawing all attention back to her with little effort. "Whatever squalor and despair your pathetic little lives have been able to tolerate until this point is nothing compared to the pain and misery I can inflict if I leave here unhappy."

"Did you seriously just give an 'evil monologue' down there?" Emma whispered to the brunette at her side. Regina just rolled her eyes and kept an eye on her younger self.

"You will help me," the Evil Queen stated, making it more of a command rather than the request such a statement usually took the form of.

"Wow," Emma couldn't help commenting, "You used to be even worse without the sensible pantsuits. Though, I have to say, Council meetings would've been a lot more… interesting if I'd had _that_ to look at." Regina slapped the back of the blond's head.

An old man, with a magically moving wooden puppet by his side stepped out from the crowd, speaking as humbly as he could, "Please, Your Majesty. We're a peaceful village. What do you want from us?"

"That's Marco," Emma observed.

"Geppetto," Regina automatically corrected.

"Justice," the Evil Queen sneered. "If I find out that anyone in this village has helped the bandit Snow White, they will suffer dearly. Here's what helping Snow White looks like." She gestured and her guards pulled forth a struggling figure, pulling a sackcloth from the woman's head. She had an exotic, yet humble look, curly black locks around an olive skinned face with Grecian features and a full mouth.

She screamed, begging to the crowd, "Help me! She's gonna kill me."

"Who wants to be next?" the Evil Queen threatened.

"Please," the prisoner begged one final time.

Emma made to move, fully intending on helping the young woman, but Regina restrained her, holding her back long enough that she nearly lost her footing and had to abandon the action to leap from their perch. "What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?!" the brunette hissed, scared witless by the blond's near-action.

"I'm helping that woman," she answered without hesitation. "She's just an innocent-"

"No, Emma," the future Evil Queen cut her off. "All fictional literature aside, Belle _and_ Gold warned us repeatedly, after discovering Zelena's plans to change the past, about how dangerous it is. Messing with events could do untold damage to all of us. For once in your life, think of the consequences to your actions!"

"I'm supposed to let her rot or die?" the Savior asked, incredulous.

Frowning, Regina's eyes turned cold as she answered, "Whatever her fate, we cannot interfere. Not if we want a chance at getting back to the world we know."

"And how the hell are we supposed to do that again?" Emma grumbled. "If we are actually stuck here until your younger self casts the curse, we might as well try to make things _better_ for the future!"

"And what if," Regina challenged, "while trying to do good, we just make things worse? A lot worse? Knowing the future is one thing, being from the future? We could make it so that either you aren't born, or that I never adopt Henry, or never cast the curse in the first place, or cast it too early, before the wardrobe is finished, letting you escape it! No, we aren't going to change a thing!"

"So… no chance of talking your younger self around to being a bit… less evil?" she asked with a resigned sigh.

"I wouldn't have listened," Regina shook her head sadly. "I… she is too filled with grief and anger to try anything else. Although… I will say that I sought out every alternative to my revenge besides casting the Dark Curse. I was not ignorant of the price or cost and consequences of casting it. I was, quite simply, desperate and out of options. At least, that is what I believed at the time. And even after it was cast, it took nearly two decades of monotony and self-inflicted torture to even contemplate changing my behavior or pattern. I… I don't know how much longer it would have been, but if I hadn't adopted… if I hadn't had Henry in my life, I probably would have started contemplated either ending the Curse, or some other ways of ending my suffering."

"Are… are you saying…?" Emma couldn't actually come out and say it.

"No," Regina shook her head, knowing exactly what her soulmate was thinking. "I was not… suicidal. But as with the curse, adopting Henry-at the time-was a desperate means of ending my suffering. Any attempt to… make her less evil now? It would either delay, or alter the timing in which she adopts and accepts Henry into her life. I won't… we _can't_ risk that!"

Frowning, Emma nodded and offered up one final sigh.

"So," she asked, leaning back against the trunk of the tree as the Black Knights and Evil Queen rode away with prisoner in hand, "who did you used to go to when you were trumped with a magical problem and needed a miracle solution?"

Her eyes going wide with realization, the two soulmates shared a look as the brunette answered, "Rumpelstiltskin."

-~O~-

First thing to do when time travelling; blend in and do not stand out. Which meant a change of clothes as red leather jackets and fashionable power suits pretty much never came into vogue in the Enchanted Forest. Though, not for lack of trying after they returned from defeating Pan's curse and some of the younger generation wanting to emulate their absent Savior of the time.

Fortunately, with Regina possessing her full power of magic, and in spite of Emma's absolute refusal that she still had hers after having it stolen by Zelena, they did not have to resort to stealing other people's laundry in hopes of minimizing the ripple effects. Also, as well known as Regina's face is, and as dangerous as it was to let Emma's be seen by the wrong person, there was an even simpler solution than transfiguring their clothes, with but a simple glamour spell. A spell that Regina herself had avidly researched after Rumpelstiltskin had 'trapped' her in a peasant woman's body for a time.

Emma was… less than amused with the results.

"Are. You. _Shitting_ me?!" 'Gabrielle' demanded of 'Xena' standing next to her in the conjured mirror. Although argument could be made that it was actually a glamour of 'Meg' given that the blue-eyed brunette was wearing a tavern wench's costume rather than black leather armor. 'Gabrielle' on the other hand was wearing the green halter top and orange/brown miniskirt and knee-high leather boots that she was best known for.

"What?" 'Xena' said in an entirely unconvincing 'innocent' tone.

Emma just glared at her soulmate from beneath the glamour, arms crossed beneath her barely-covered breasts. Regina just laughed and altered the glamour so that they could see one another as they truly were (while everyone else saw the faces of two long-gone heroes), and altered Emma's costume to the blue peasant blouse and ankle-length red skirt that Gabrielle had worn on her initial adventures with Xena.

"I am so having you play dress-up when we get back," Emma vowed.

"We'll see, my dear," Regina chuckled.

"Is all this really necessary?" the blond asked, adjusting 'herself' slightly.

"Answer me this," the brunette replied. "What would you have done if my past self had spotted you back there?"

"My guess?" she shrugged, "Run."

"And even if we had, what are the chances that she'd have seen you, so that I might have actually recognized you when you first arrived in Storybrooke, instead of assuming that you were a mere annoyance that I had to drive out of town?" she argued.

"You'd remember a glimpse of a face 30 years from _now_?" she put stress on the word to put a frame of reference on it.

"Your face, yes" Regina confirmed. "The point is to minimize making a lasting impression. Both fortunate, and unfortunate for us, during this time in my life I was so consumed by my anger and hatred that I put blinders up to everything that didn't have to do directly with my destroying Snow White. The only exceptions were people or incidents that actually made me angrier than my general disposition."

"Such as?" Emma inquired, trying to act innocent and only casually interested.

Regina saw right through her, and answered with a glare, "Let's not find out, shall we my dear? For now we need to focus on some means of getting back to our own time."

"About that," Emma said, apprehensive as they started walking along the road, "are we _sure_ that we want to go to Rumpelstiltskin about this? Neither of us exactly have the best history with the man."

"I would hardly call him a 'man' in this form," Regina sneered. "But the fact of the matter is, that until Zelena actually pulled it off, time travel… changing the past was considered one of the fundamental laws of magic. Right up there with being unable to make someone fall in love or raise the dead. It cannot be done!"

"I'd say more like shouldn't be done, but you've made your point," Emma sighed. "If anyone is going to find a loophole around the laws of magic, it'll be Gold."

"Rumpelstiltskin," 'Xena' corrected.

"Whatever," 'Gabrielle' grumbled.

They were a few miles down the road without seeing anyone for a little while, though there had been a couple of close brushes with Black Knights, they'd always managed to hide just in time to avoid detection, when they heard the sounds of an approaching party. Lots of horses and at least one carriage from the amount of noise being made.

"It could be the Queen, er… you, again?" Emma suggested.

Regina shook her head. "I only ever visited Rumpelstiltskin at his castle a handful of times, and I never took my carriage there. Still, we shouldn't be seen." That having been said, they both ran for the trees, jumping over the log lying across the road-not exactly a huge hindrance for the two of them-and quickly scrambled up out of sight. They didn't immediately notice that they weren't the only ones hiding amongst the branches.

A white carriage eventually pulled up, stopping as the entourage came upon the fallen tree. When a certain familiar passenger disembarked from the carriage, Emma's eyebrows shot toward the sky. As the scene progressed, she slowly realized what it meant and began looking around, specifically at the high branches over the carriage itself.

"Worry not," Prince James shouted back to the remaining occupant of the carriage. "It's but a fallen tree."

"Is that…?" the blond whispered to her companion.

"Your father," Regina answered with a grave nod. "We should leave. Immediately."

"Wait…" Emma had finally spotted another huddled mass amongst the tree branches and recognized it as her mother. Looking back and forth between Prince 'Charming' and Snow White, an unintentional smile crossed the young woman's face. This was the moment that her parents met. Everything started from here, for her at least.

Unfortunately, she'd leaned out a bit too far and the branch she was on creaked just a bit too loud, startling the young bandit in the tree across the way. Startled her enough that she mistimed her reach for the next branch and instead of swinging down onto the carriage as was her intent, she fell down backwards all the way to the ground.

By this point, the yet-to-be-named-Charming had noticed the status of the tree blocking the road. "Look at these markings," he said to the soldiers. "This tree didn't fall. It's been cut. It's an ambush!" He and the other soldiers immediately drew their swords.

The knights immediately began working to move the log, as Prince James raced back to the carriage and his fiance. Snow, no longer in position to take advantage of her distraction, weighed her chances and decided she didn't like the odds. She took off into the woods, away from Prince James and the carriage. Emma watched on in growing horror.

"I take it back, Emma," Regina commented with her usual dry wit, "You _are_ Marty McFly. Parent falling out of a tree and everything."

(Author's Note: Taking a page out of fellow fanfic author M. McGregor's page; the story is going to take a slightly different turn than usual here. I'm choosing BOTH options, just so that is clear, but I'm going to alternate. So, this one is Option A - Emma went first, next Chapter is Option B – Regina went first. Then we'll see how things develop from there. So, for the next few updates, at least, there will be TWO new chapters each update, so keep that in mind when reading ahead. ENJOY!)


	4. Option B 1

Option B: Regina Went First

AKA crossover with the actual _Xena: Warrior Princess_ , set during Final season no specific episode, where Regina and Emma meet their past lives and potentially change a lot more than the past and with even less chance of 'getting home'.

-~O~-

Regina fell to the ground with a heavy thud, rolling with the impact through both modern and ancient instincts. Rolling in the grass, she came up quickly, but the first thing she noticed was the trees, followed immediately by the familiar-unfamiliar scent and sensations of the atmosphere. Her mind made connections and jumped to the proper conclusions within moments.

"What is…?" she started to ask, but quickly fell silent as she caught sight of something that she never thought that she would ever see. Again, that is.

Behind her, Emma was still on the ground, and slowly getting to her feet. After taking one look around, the blond cried out, "No! Ow! No!" Apparently she'd hit her head upon landing and was rubbing the bump on her head.

"Be quiet, Miss Swan," Regina quickly ordered, opening up with her senses to the world around them. There was… there was magic in the air, but it was different. More similar to that in Storybrooke, but different at the same time. Storybrooke, while having magic in the World Without Magic, was also concentrated in one place. This was more… diffuse, but still it was magic in the _World Without Magic_! Meaning they were still in the same Realm, the 'real world' as Emma would call it.

Except…

"We're back in the Enchanted Forest again, aren't we?" she growled, finally getting to her feet and brushing herself off. "I really don't like this place. Don't tell my parents I said that."

"Take a look around, Emma," Regina admonished. "Take a _good long_ _look_ around. We're not in the Enchanted Forest."

"Then where, or when are we?" she asked, only taking a cursory glance at their surroundings. Until she spotted the same thing that Regina had upon first landing. "No. That… is not possible."

It was a small thing really. Easily missed amidst the forest of trees surrounding them. And yet it jumped out for more than just the fact that it was a poster made of parchment nailed to the side of a tree. It was also what was on the poster. Writing, which a few weeks ago Emma might as well have called 'chicken scratch' surrounded two hand-drawn profile sketches of two women, one dark-haired, the other fair-haired. Aside from the fact that it was hand drawn with what looked like charcoal, on parchment, and by somebody that was by no means an artist of any sort, it was clear who the two women were. It didn't help that she could understand and read the handwritten Ancient Greek script.

"Is that…?"

"I believe that it is," Regina answered before the question could be fully voiced.

"How…?" Emma started shaking her head.

"I fear that it might be my fault," the reformed Evil Queen sighed. "I was thinking of the last time that I could recall dealing with time portals, as well as thinking about Zelena, which reminded me of…"

"Callisto," Emma's breath hitched. "Then, this is when she… Oh shit! This, this could be bad, Regina! Really, really, _really bad_!"

"You think I don't know that?!" she snapped.

"Things were chaotic enough, what with the Fates Loom being trashed by Caesar, but then Callisto had to somehow travel to the future, where she and Eve actually meet and fight, and we _barely_ got her back through that time portal as it was thanks to the help from Ares, Aphrodite and Hercules! It was way too close of a battle as it was! We can't risk changing that, Regina!"

"Yes, I do happen to recall what happened, just as well as you do, my dear," the brunette huffed. "But do you happen to have any better idea for where, or who, we could go to for help? While I can sense and possibly use magic, that doesn't mean I can suddenly conjure portals out of thin air. What about you? Do you have your magic back yet?"

"No," she answered, sounding equally annoyed and offended by the question.

"Oh really?"

"Yes," the blond snapped, her blue/green eyes flashing dangerously, "Really."

"Then, unfortunately, that leaves us with only one option," Regina sighed.

"..." Emma paused and then looked at her soulmate and inquired, "You do realize that we're making a lot of assumptions just based on a poster and what you happened to be thinking about a few moments ago, right?"

Almost in reply to that, a lyrical war cry echoed throughout the forest, one that struck a chord in both women's memories. Regina merely arched one sculpted eyebrow and shot Emma a condescending look that said it all.

"Shut up," Emma grumbled, even as they both turned and started running toward the ever encroaching sounds of battle.

They soon reached the site of the fight, which seemed to be a gang of a dozen or so mercenaries, or bandits, against three women and a young fit man in antique clunky armor. Regina and Emma came to a jarring halt upon seeing who the third woman was, as they easily recognized the first two.

"Deja vu," Emma commented, staring at the shorter pixie-cut blond in red leather lashing out with a pair of sais like a striking snake.

"Indeed," Regina remarked, her eyes locked solely onto the dark-eyed brunette in a humble robe and the bare minimum of clothing that counted for decent in this day and age, not to be provocative, but in a visible demonstration of the poverty and piety she embraced.

"Do… do you regret what we… what I had to do?" Emma asked softly.

"Zelena made her choices," Regina responded automatically. "Once, I might have said that she got what she deserved, but now I acknowledge that she had to face the consequences of her actions. As I have done. As I have to do."

"Regina…" Emma started to say something more, but they were interrupted.

"RAAAHH!" One of the bandits charged at the two bystanders, sword raised.

For one, very brief moment, Emma had conflicting reactions, unsure which instincts to follow. 'Emma's' instincts would've had her pull her gun and put one in the guy's leg or shoulder. 'Gabrielle's' instincts, however, were far more suited to the situation and environment. Thankfully, the brief moment of hesitation didn't cost her anything, this time, but she knew that she'd need to resolve the conflict a lot quicker in the future, as any hesitation at all could be a death sentence.

Spinning on one heel, Emma lashed out and drove her foot into the charging brute's stomach. To her, and everyone else's surprise, the kick did more than just stop him, but knocked him back a good six feet. If he'd still been conscious, he wouldn't have even been able to stand up as he would be puking until he started dry heaving from the blow.

"Been working out?" Regina asked with an amused quirk of her brow.

"Didn't actually expect that to work," she freely admitted. "At least not that well."

Seeing additional threats or rather targets, more considering the chauvinistic attitude of all men, half the bandits turned to attack them, while the rest redoubled their efforts against the other group of four. Thinking them helpless because they bore no weapons, the men all grinned and started taunting the two time travellers.

"Get the wenches!"

"I claim the skinny one, she looks like she'll break easy!"

"Fine, but I get the dark one, she looks feisty!"

"Just save a piece or two for the rest of us, eh boys?"

"Arr!" most of them screamed in approval.

Emma and Regina shared a look, both thinking the same thoughts for once.

"You boys get one warning," Emma warned them, fists clenched, fighting the urge to reach for her gun. She'd seen first hand how ineffective it could be outside the modern world, and they didn't need to risk changing things too much. A gunshot wound/bullet in Ancient Greece and/or Macedonia? Yeah, that would change things a bit too much.

Regina just conjured a fireball in one hand and threw it at the center-mass of the charging group. Emma grinned and cold-cocked the nearest bandit before flipping him on his back and dislocating his arm with a well-practiced self defense move. Leaving him screaming on the ground, she quickly dodged and sidestepped several sword slashes and used the same move she'd use to disarm somebody holding a gun or knife to take the blades out of the equation and a few more fast moves later had most of them next to their friend on the ground, screaming in pain. Regina, in stark contrast, was using her magic to full effect and was only holding back in that she didn't kill any of them. Trees, vines and roots moved like whips, binding and hindering and trapping those knocked to the ground. Fireballs exploded and singed clothing and skin alike, but left no permanent scars. And she quite enjoyed tossing them all around like rag dolls with raw force. It wasn't quite 'telekinesis', more like just shoving energy around rather than controlling it, but the effects were quite spectacular as fully grown men were sent flying through the air to crash against the trunks of very sturdy trees.

In short order, they'd all but decimated the collection of bandits, which actually left the other half still fighting the original 'victims'.

Emma frowned, seeing that. They, she and Regina, were from the 'modern' era, they were also both out of shape, and even with Regina's magic to even the odds, these hardened warriors should have mopped the floor with these riffraff that the two of them had just creamed. If _she_ could take them out with simple self-defense moves…

… Or were they? She froze, considering. In this day and age, 'martial arts' was still in its infancy. Even the fighting styles that were already ancient by this time, they were still in development, and only practiced by a chosen select few. The 'modern' "self-defense" styles taught at every YMCA and public gym across the country, in multiple countries, it was a style that nobody in _this_ day and age had ever seen or knew how to countermand. But was it truly enough to let her practically obliterate half a dozen battle-hardened mercenaries? With swords that they knew how to use?

While Emma was mulling over the improbability of a small town sheriff and magic-using mayor beating a bunch of thugs _before_ a Warrior Princess, Amazon Queen, reformed Roman Legionnaire, and a 3rd-generation trained fighter (grandson of a Warlord and warlord's family) could beat the same bunch, Regina was preparing for the inevitable confrontation their sudden appearance and assistance would spark with the group of heroes before them.

Two possibilities immediately sprung to mind. Option one, Gabrielle and Eve saw that they helped out and offered friendship and aid. Option two, the more likely, Xena saw her using magic and accused her and Emma of being gods, or witches, and possibly setting up the whole attack. Which would lead to conflict and consequences she really didn't want to think about.

"Is it my imagination, or is… she having more trouble than she should with these creeps?" Emma asked in a stage whisper.

"She's playing with them, I thought that was obvious," Regina shrugged.

"..." Emma stared. "Since when does Xena _play_ with her opponents? Joxer and the whole death by Amazon combat thing notwithstanding, of course."

Almost in reply to their conversation, the blue-eyed dark-haired warrior let out another battle cry and leaped into the air and began leap-frogging about, knocking each of the remaining bandits out with one hit. The fight was over in less than ten seconds after that.

"..." Emma's mouth dropped open, shutting only long enough to form the words, "I see that 'Xena' played around with her opponents quite a lot." The blond shot a glare at her raven-haired companion.

"Who are you?" the six-foot-plus dark-haired warrior demanded, finishing her aerobic display by landing a few feet directly in front of the time travellers.

"You… honestly wouldn't believe us if we told you the truth," Emma answered with an infectious grin. "And you'd probably try and kill us if we lied to you, so let's go with, Hi, I'm Emma. This is Regina."

"What are you doing out here?" Gabrielle asked as she stepped forward, sheathing her sais. "This region is a breeding ground for bandits like these. Why would you travel without weapons or other protection?"

Emma blinked and was momentarily stunned at how naive 'she' used to be.

"You're lucky most of the bandits ran off when we scared them off," Virgil said.

Regina frowned and looked around and behind them, where the bandits the two of them had dealt with still lay groaning on the ground. Emma also frowned, briefly losing her temper at being 'talked down to' by Joxer's son of all people.

"Wait, seriously, did nobody just see the magic that was just going on?" she exclaimed, waving her hands in Regina's direction. "Fireballs, explosions, people going flying? Really?"

"You're a witch?" Eve questioned, devoid of malice, merely curious.

"I prefer the term sorceress, although I do hold the title of queen," Regina answered shortly. "In answer to your earlier questions, my dear, we are actually lost. We fell out of a portal not too far from here, heard the sounds of battle, and came to offer our aid."

"What aid could two noblewomen like you offer?" Virgil scoffed.

That earned him two wrathful glares from the future women.

"Three words pal," Emma growled at him, hands on her hips. "Amazons. Warrior Princess. Would you like to see what a sheriff can do?" She actually stepped forward, being held back only by Regina's hand on her shoulder.

"Emma," her soulmate cautioned. "Leave the little man to his delusions. Like father, like son, they say."

"What do you know about my father?!" Virgil practically snarled, surging forward, having Xena and Gabrielle to hold him back.

"More than I can explain at the moment," Regina answered coldly. "He was a good man, but not the most powerful of warriors. Now, we have answered your questions, and rendered what aid we could. We will move on, and allow you to do the same."

"Aw," Emma whined, having wanted to get to know their past lives from a slightly different perspective.

"Something you'd care to make comment on, _Emma_?" the brunette growled, eyeballing the blond, daring her to try something.

"They… look… like… nice people?" she tried rather pathetically, shrugging.

"Hmph," Regina rolled her eyes.

"Do you know us?" Xena demanded, her hands relaxed at her sides, one of the signs everybody present knew meant she was getting ready for action.

"Sort of," Emma answered before Regina could stop her.

" _Emma_!" she near-screamed, past warning and moving closer to threatening the Savior by this point. "We apologize, but we really should be going now."

"Hold it!" Xena snapped.

"Hm, sound familiar?" Emma teased the woman that was currently dragging her away from the group of warriors.

"Shut it, Swan!" Regina snarled, at this point actually dragging her by the arms.

"Wait, Swan?" Gabrielle called out. "Xena, wait!"

Emma froze on the spot, no longer allowing herself to be dragged or pulled along. Then drew Regina up short. Looking into the older woman's dark eyes, her own baby blues widening in alarm, she hissed, "Don't tell me you were thinking about _this day_?!"

"Why do you think I was trying to avoid them?" Regina hissed back.

"Well I assumed that it was just the time period, and they'd be too busy to… I didn't think it would be _the day_!" she argued back.

On the other side of the clearing, Xena and Gabrielle were having a heated discussion of their own. Eve and Virgil stood uncomfortably off to the side, the latter looking toward the strangers with lingering anger. Though he may have forgiven Eve, it was still an unwanted reminder than his father was dead.

"I don't trust them," Xena declared.

"Xena," Gabrielle chastised with an exasperated sigh. "We don't even know them. And they helped us when they clearly didn't have to."

"Did you see what they did?" was the hard response.

"Kind of hard to miss a woman throwing around fireballs, or another moving like an Amazon with four times the strength and as much skill as either of us," Gabrielle replied. "That does not mean that they're trying to kill us."

"They're hiding something," Xena pointed out.

"Still doesn't mean they're trying to kill us," she said.

Xena just gave her a 'look'. The blond grimaced and finally admitted, "It doesn't _always_ mean they're trying to kill us."

"There's also that thing about them already knowing so much about us," she continued. "And even if they knew Joxer personally, how could they recognize Virgil as his son without Virgil knowing who they are? And they way they spoke about him…"

"Is… kind of like how we talk about him," Gabrielle said thoughtfully. "Xena, do you think…?" she started to ask, but then something Emma said, a bit too loudly drew everyone's attention back to the time travellers.

"Do you think she's _the_ Swan that we were sent to protect?" Gabrielle finished quietly.

"For all I know, that other woman called her that just to bait us into some kind of trap," she replied. "No, the best thing we can do is as she suggested and let them go their way while we go ours. If she were _the_ swan we were sent after by Michael, then either Eve or I would've had a vision or some kind of sign that would reveal her to us. Seeing her in a fight doesn't qualify."

"So why not let them travel with us for a little while?" the blond suggested. "That way we can be sure, and if she's not, then maybe they can help us in protecting the real swan?" Before Xena could truly respond to that, Gabrielle turned and offered to the lost pair, "Hello? Emma, Regina? I understand that you're lost, but maybe we can help each other?"

Speaking under her breath so only the one she was whispering to could hear, Regina hissed into Emma's ear, "You truly have always been too _Good_ for your own good, haven't you Miss Swan?"

Hissing back, Emma glared at her soulmate, "For the next little bit, _Your Majesty_ , do _not_ call me that. It'll prevent any… misunderstandings, all right?"

Turning back toward the Amazon Queen, the once Queen of the Enchanted Forest said to her offer, "No thank you, my dear. We can manage to find our own way. And it would seem that your companions don't think too highly of us at the moment. Perhaps it would be best to treat this as merely a passing encounter."

"What my friend here is way too uptight to say is, thanks, but no thanks, we got it," Emma grinned and waved goodbye, turning and managing to only take one more step back toward the woods.

"We know a sorcerer that might be able to get you home," Gabrielle told them.

That stopped the both of them cold.

"You said that you came through a portal and are lost now, right?" she said. "Which means that you were brought here by magic, and that would mean that the only way you could get back home would also be through magic. Which means you need a sorcerer."

"Is she lying?" Regina asked Emma.

"..." Emma was silent, thinking and trying her hardest to remember. "I… don't thinks so. Two options really, and if it is the latter, we're screwed either way. And if it is the first person I'm thinking of… we're going to need their intro, otherwise we're back at square one."

"I'm going to hate this, aren't I?" Regina grumbled.

Emma shrugged, both of their backs still to the heroes behind them. "It is either Ares and Aphrodite, or…"

"He's a man that goes by the name of Balthazar," Gabrielle further tempted them.

Emma winced and sighed. "... or shit…"

"Considering what I know speaking to those two would involve, I'm assuming that this is the option where we need their introduction?" Regina deadpanned. Emma merely nodded in silent reply. "Wonderful."

Turning as one, they said together, "Thank you, we accept."

(Author's Note: Taking a page out of fellow fanfic author M. McGregor's page; the story is going to take a slightly different turn than usual here. I'm choosing BOTH options, just so that is clear, but I'm going to alternate. So, this one is Chapter is Option B – Regina went first, and the last Chapter was Option A - Emma went first. Then we'll see how things develop from there. So, for the next few updates, at least, there will be TWO new chapters each update, so keep that in mind when reading ahead. ENJOY!)


	5. Option A - Dark Help

Option A: _Dark Help_

-~O~-

"This is bad!"

"Oh gee, you think?" Regina sarcastically retorted to Emma's cry of dismay.

"Not helping Regina!" the blond snapped.

They were coming up on the Dark One's castle, a place that everybody in the land knew the location of, but likewise avoided at all costs. It at least guaranteed they wouldn't be seen and cause more damage to the timeline. Upon sight of the castle, the Savior couldn't help commenting about it a bit.

"A little more imposing than the pawnshop. How do we even approach him with something like this?" Emma asked in frustration. "I mean… is there some kind of codeword that you two used, or maybe safeword would be the better term? How do we even explain ourselves?"

"As far as approaching him, that is not the issue," she answered. "He already knows we're here, he's just deciding whether to kill us or not. And for the record, no, there is no… ' _safe word_ ' to use with Rumpelstiltskin. As for possible explanations that we can offer to get his help… I'm open to suggestions."

They were both at a loss after that statement was made. The pair actually made it all the way to the doors of the castle before they were stopped, each of them walking in silent thought, trying to come up with something that might help them convince the Dark One to help them. Preferably without too steep of a price. Regina was plotting some elaborate web of lies, maybe even tying them into her 'present' self's plans and actions, while Emma was intending on just going with the bald faced truth and hoping for the best.

"I thought you said you didn't need me anymore, dearie!" Rumpelstiltskin's high-pitched voice squealed from right behind them just before they could reach the doors. "And what _have_ you done to yourself? At least the glamour that I gave you was acceptable, if a bit on the humble side. Have you gotten yourself stuck again? Need some help, dearie? And who might this sweet urchin be?"

"He recognizes you?" Emma whispered as quietly as she could to the brunette at her side.

"Apparently," Regina whispered back. With a wave of her hand, the glamours over herself and Emma disappeared, though she left their clothes alone. "Rumpelstiltskin," she nodded stiffly in greeting.

"Your Majesty," he returned the greeting in a far more mocking manner.

"We need your help," Emma blurted out before either of them could stop her. Regina rolled her eyes. So much for her elaborate web of lies and tricking him.

The high-pitched giggle that came from the Dark One made him even creepier than he already was with the scaled gold skin and wire-like hair, in Emma's humble opinion, but she did her best to ignore it as he asked, "Why of course you do, dearie! Why else would you be here? But first, the all-important question; what's in it for me?"

Regina shot Emma a look that said it all, but boiled down to 'it is your show now my dear' and made it clear that she wasn't going to do a thing unless Emma screwed things up even worse. Taking a deep breath, the Savior faced the Dark One and began to make their case.

"Well, uh, we, uh, we're… Look, we're from the future and we need help getting back there, and well, you're the first person that we both thought of to help in that regard," she lamely finished.

"Hmmhmmhmm," the imp giggled. "Well but of course, but why should I help you? You still haven't explained what's in it for me, dearie."

"Your son," Emma said the first thing that came to mind.

Regina tensed. If ever there was a hot button for Rumpelstiltskin, talking about his son was it. She prepared herself for whatever might happen next.

The gold-scaled, wiry-haired creature of darkness scowled and a dangerous gleam entered his eyes. Seeing this, and knowing better than to play around with this particular fire, she hastily continued. "His name is Baelfire. You're planning to enact a curse in hopes of reuniting with him."

"Who told you that? How did you come by this knowledge? Are you some kind of witch?" he demanded, raising his hand threateningly.

"No, I'm not a witch," Emma answered. "I'm the one who breaks the curse so that you can find him. I'm the product of true love."

"That's speculation. Part of my plans. But I haven't done it," he admitted.

"You will and you will succeed," she assured him.

"If that's true, then that means…" Rumpelstiltskin started to say, but Regina cut him off.

"She spoke the truth, dear," she said. "We're from the future."

"But time travel hasn't been done, dearie," the Dark One countered.

"Yeah, well," Emma shrugged. "Someone's cracked that code. Will you help us?"

"Help?" he giggled. "Why but of course. Just answer me one question; Do I find my son?"

Being reminded of her former love, the father of her son, briefly overwhelmed the Savior and she hesitated in saying anything, as she also knew that he would die in the future. Rumpelstiltskin didn't like to be kept waiting, however, and had no compassion for her feelings.

"Answer me!" he snapped.

"Yes," she replied instantly.

"Bae," the Dark One's expression filled with hope and satisfaction. "I find Bae. How? No, don't tell me. If I succeeded, I don't want anything in my head that might throw it off."

"It might already kind of be thrown off," Emma admitted guiltily.

Rumpelstiltskin scowled and near growled at her, "You've changed things. What have you done?"

"We interrupted my parents meeting," she said.

-~O~-

They entered the Dark One's castle through to the main hall, quickly marching after him as he lead them through his home. Seeing that Emma was about to try and make small talk, Regina quickly came up beside her, put her hand on her shoulder with a firm squeeze, and silently warned her that she needed to stay quiet for the time being.

"So, Rumpelstiltskin, what can you do for helping us clean up this mess?" she put forth.

"Help you clean up _your_ mess?" the Dark One giggled. He really liked giggling it seemed, Emma was noticing. "No, dearies, you got yourselves into that... mess, you have to get yourselves out of it. But I can help you with your little time travel conundrum, if only to keep you out of my hair and from making an even larger _mess_ of things."

"Well, that's one thing," Emma muttered. They were interrupted from further conversation as the maid entered the room.

"Oh, Rumplestiltskin," Belle said, startled. "You're back. Do you, uh, do you need anything?"

"Belle!" Emma exclaimed upon turning around and seeing the future 'Mrs. Gold' standing there in the stereotypical costume that the animated version of her wore in the movie.

Surprised at being recognized, the brunette maid turned to the blond time traveller and offered a smile, asking, "So, do we know each other?"

Wincing at her goof, Emma hastily sought to correct it. "Sorry, no. Mister, um… Rumple, the Dark One told me about you."

"Did he?" Belle actually smiled a bit at that, turning to the Dark One in question.

"No," he snapped, dismissing her. "Go away and read a book or whatever it is you like to do. Come back and clean later."

"You could ask nicely," she remarked already turning to go.

"I could also turn you into a toad," he called after her as a parting shot.

Shaking her head in bemusement, Emma couldn't stop herself from commenting, "It's a miracle you two fall for each other."

Rumplestiltskin, close enough to hear, did a double-take and looked at the future Savior aghast. "What?" he laughed out loud. "First you want me to clean up your messes for you. Now you're telling me I fall for the help. If I weren't so amused, I'd probably kill you both. Or at least torture for a good long while."

Regina slapped her soulmate across the shoulder, glaring. "Ignore my idiot companion, Rumplestiltskin," she said, taking control of the conversation. "She's an idiot. An unfortunate genetic trait as you'll come to learn. Speaking of which, about her parents?"

"Yes," he said, getting down to business. "Who are they?"

"Snow White and Prince Charming," Emma answered automatically.

"Prince Charming?" he repeated, equally annoyed and amused at this point.

"His real name is Prince James," Regina answered instead, keeping a restraining hand on the other woman.

"King George's son," the Dark One remarked, sounding surprised, "whose wedding I've just arranged?"

"I'll handle this, my dear," Regina tightened her grip on the blond's shoulder when it was clear she was about to speak again. "Suffice to say, yes, he's supposed to _find_ ," she made a face that made it seem like saying the word caused her physical pain, "Snow White and they fall in love at first sight. Or something. I didn't bother paying attention to the details, and if we fix it, the details will sort themselves out."

"Hm, yes, I can see how you might see it that way, dearie, but I'd like to see a bit of proof before making that assumption," he retorted.

"Here," Emma pulled out the book. "Let me show you. It's all in the book…" she started flipping through the pages and stopped when everything _after_ Snow and Charming's meeting was revealed to be blank pages. "Wait, what?!"

"It's all gone. Anything that was supposed to happen after they met has disappeared," Regina commented, equally distressed, as her parts of the 'story' had also been wiped clean, or so it seemed.

"The ripple effect," Rumplestiltskin remarked. "Once you change something in the past, anything from that point forward becomes uncertain. The future, as you can see, is a blank page."

"The ring," Emma declared, looking toward her soulmate. "My dad's ring, that he's going to give as a wedding ring. My Mom… Snow steals it and when he sees it on her hand, that's when he falls in love with her. We need to get Snow to steal that ring, so we can put their story back on track."

"You're in luck. There's a ball tonight at King Midas' castle. Prince James will be there and so will his ring," the Dark One revealed.

"So, we just need to get Snow there," said Emma.

"Simple enough," Regina said, the proverbial gears already spinning. "We just need to drop the right hints to the right people. Or, in this case, push her in the right direction ourselves. The catch is finding out where she is right now."

"Don't you have a magic mirror or something for stuff like this?" the blond asked.

"Who I dare not even try and contact or use at risk of making a further mess of the timeline," the raven-haired woman immediately denied.

"Allow me," Rumpelstiltskin offered as he brought them over to his crystal ball. A quick hand wave and moments later they witnessed as Snow attempted to barter her way onto a ship to escape the land with Black Beard, and failed.

"The port," Regina nodded. "We have a place to start. Let's go Emma, we don't have much time to corner her and get her to that party."

"How exactly does 'cornering' her, help us in helping her?" Emma asked, making air quotes and already trailing behind the brunette.

"I have a plan," was all she would say.

"Excellent!" the Dark One cackled. "I can work on getting your portal to the future open again. While you two go about and clean up the mess you've made of our future. Best hurry along then." With that said, he waved his hand and the pair vanished in a swirl of blood-red smoke, which smelled and felt as bad as it looked, taking them beyond his property and well on the way to their next destination.

"... I think I like him better as 'Mr. Gold'," Emma said to Regina, who knew better than to say anything beyond a mischievous smile.

 _Continued..._


	6. Option B - Bath Time

Option B: _Bath Time_

-~O~-

"So," Gabrielle said as the group trundled along the forest path, "since we're going to be traveling together, and you know so much about us, why don't you two share your own story?"

Emma rolled her eyes at the blatant attempt. At least it was a tad more subtle than any of the others' might have been. Regina, on the other hand, sighed and found herself struggling not to tell Gabrielle all of her secrets… and she had little explanation for why. Fortunately, she had enough presence of mind to hold her tongue.

The blond glanced at her silent brunette companion before turning to face her fellow blond and replied, "Well, it's a tad complicated. Or rather, it's difficult for me to actually explain it in a way that makes sense to people not living inside my brain."

Gabrielle laughed, while their respective brunette's each smirked with hidden mirth. Eve also smiled, but was paying closer attention to Regina than Emma at the moment. Virgil was just glaring hatefully at the pair of them for their earlier comments about his father, but the anger was slowly fading, so it wasn't as intense as earlier.

"Also," Emma went on to say, "some of our story involve secrets that are not ours to tell. Not entirely dangerous secrets or anything like that, just… personal and not mine to tell."

"The truth, while a burden with great consequences, should not be hidden from those that you love," Eve sagely advised.

"Really?" Emma shot her a lopsided grin. "OK then, where are the last few remaining, hidden, Amazon villages? How did you win your campaign against the Amazon Nation when you were Livia? How does Xena's neck-pinch thing work? And why don't the scrolls include fighting manual instructions along side the fun stuff so ordinary folks can do what Xena and Gabrielle can do all on their own?"

Her point, vividly made, drove home the silence for nearly another mile along the path.

Feeling the need to, at least somewhat, apologize for her statements, Emma began to tell her past incarnation and others an… edited account of hers and Regina's story.

"My story actually begins on my twenty-eighth birthday," she began, after sharing a silent, yet meaningful look with her time travel partner. "When my son, who I'd given up for adoption, showed up on my doorstep. Short answer; I got into trouble when I was younger, and Henry's father left me holding the bag, literally. I gave birth to Henry while still in prison and did everything I could to make sure he was raised in a good home. And I thought that was that."

"Until he showed up on your doorstep," Gabrielle guessed.

"He'd basically tracked me down just so he could then have me take him back to his home and help with some dark curse that had been cast upon the whole town," she continued. "Details of the curse, or the name of the town aren't that important. Although, there is one detail that _might_ be relevant." Again, the Savior and the reformed Evil Queen exchanged a few silent, yet meaningful glances between one another. Although, on Regina's side of the exchange, they may have been glares.

" _I'm_ the one that cast the curse," Regina finally confessed, as difficult as it was to do so in present company. It was easier dealing with people that _already knew_ all the bad things she'd done, as well as everything she'd done to make repairs for all of it. "And I'm also the one that adopted and raised Henry as my son."

"So imagine how she felt when her son, who'd been missing for a day or so, showed up with me, his birth mother in tow," Emma remarked.

"Who's telling this story, Ms. Swan?" Regina snapped at her.

"I thought _I_ was," Emma 'innocently' replied.

Everyone else in the group exchanged their own silent glances, of amusement, and did their best to hide their mirth.

"Then do it correctly," the flushed Mayor huffed, crossing her arms.

"She didn't like me," Emma 'conspiratorially whispered' to the rest. "Although by my first impression, I couldn't tell that. Took me spending a night in the drunk tank-Don't ask," she held up a hand when various curious looks were shot her way at the unfamiliar term, "-and Henry running off again for me to get a… _proper_ first impression of Her Majesty, Mayor Regina Mills. To be fair, there were a number of extenuating circumstances, still grieving the loss of her first love being only one of them, but let me put it in a way that you all can understand. She was as bad as Xena, in her warlord days, when it came to intelligence and cunning, and twice as bad as, oh what was that bitch's name? Oh yes, Callisto."

The native members of the group all shot surprised, and in some cases guilty looks between them.

"At her worst, Regina could give that piece of work a run for her money when it came to vengefulness and all around meanness. At least, at first," Emma shot her soulmate a sympathetic and subtext-filled look, who merely gave her a sad smile and the same 'look' right back.

"So, seeing that my son, who I'd given up to give him his best chance, was not only unhappy but living with a woman who, by all appearances, didn't truly love him, I hung around. Stuff happened, I became Sheriff of the town, more stuff happened, and eventually, when I pulled my head out of my ass, I broke the curse."

" _Stuff_ happened?" Regina repeated, incredulous. "Really, _Sheriff_? That's the best you can do? _Stuff_ happened?!"

"Would you like to explain about how Henry and I had to sneak around to spend any amount of time together, how you 'caused' the death of the previous Sheriff, the circumstances involved with the various townspeople I helped out to 'weaken' the curse, or the real kicker, how you _framed my mother for murder_? All, in efforts to run me out of town so you could have Henry to yourself?"

Gulping, Regina faced forward and nodded as she repeated again, "Stuff happened."

"I'm suddenly really curious about this… _stuff_ ," Virgil couldn't help commenting.

"Too bad," Emma shot the man a saucy grin, and continued her story. "Long story short, I saw that all this… feuding between myself and Madame Mayor was just hurting Henry, which was the last thing I wanted to do. So, I told everybody I was leaving, including the Mayor here. And she still tried to, what was that again?"

"Don't make me say," Regina begged, actually begged. "And don't you say it either!"

"Come on, Regina," Emma teased. "After not telling them any of the ' _stuff'_ , we should at least give them this. Right?"

Growling, Regina closed her eyes and shook her head up at the heavens. Then, with a grimace, she spoke the words, before hiding her shame-filled face in her hands, "I offered you a taste of my forbidden fruit. There! Are you satisfied now, Emma? I still can't believe… _Argh_!"

"She gave me an apple turnover," Emma elaborated to the blushing faces all around. "A _cursed_ apple turnover." Here, her face grew a little pinched. "When I confronted Henry and told him about what I was doing… he saw the turnover and knew what it was… and he took a bite of it before I could. He was going to die, but… well, like I said. I pulled my head out of my ass and short version, Regina and I worked together to finally break the curse she'd cast. Had to fight a dragon to do it too."

"Oh get over yourself," Regina huffed, back to crossing her arms.

"Dragons aren't easy to beat," Xena commented, impressed.

"Yeah, well, I did what I had to do," Emma shrugged, suddenly modest.

"Then what happened?" Gabrielle asked.

"Well…"

-~O~-

"And then we fell out of the portal, in the woods, heard the sounds of fighting nearby, and, well… you know the rest," Emma concluded.

"That's amazing!" Gabrielle was enthused. "Even without knowing all the details, your story… it sort of resounds with me. You're a pretty good storyteller, Emma."

"No," the blond from the future emphatically shook her head. "I'm just telling you what I can about what I remember. Henry's more of a storyteller than I am! And I'm certainly no ' _Battling Bard of Potidaea'_!"

"Well," now it was Gabrielle's turn to blush. "You do lack formal training, but you certainly know a thing or two about telling a good story. I can tell that much."

The future blond/brunette pair shared another meaningful look, this one seeming to convey unspoken words of caution. It was enough for the past blond/brunette pair to pick up on it and decide that it was time to back off for now. Fortunately, right about then they passed a turn in the road and caught sight of a pleasant bubbling brook a short ways into the trees.

"Virgil," Xena called out. "Would you mind going on ahead, taking Argo and the horses into town and getting some rooms for all of us? Try for five, but no less than three, all right?"

"Sure, but… why?" he asked, confused even as he took the reins of the horses.

"Men," the past blond joked with the future blond, who laughed.

"Eve may be pious, and Gabrielle and I are certainly no strangers to roughing it, Virgil," Xena physically turned him around and pointed at the stream weaving through the woods, "But we still observe basic hygiene. And none of us like you enough to give you a free show."

"Oh, right, sorry," the young warrior ducked his head, blushing. "I'll just… yeah."

They did manage to at least retrieve their clothes and basic cleaning tools from their supplies before he walked off, but in short order the five women were alongside the brook and discussing bathing protocol. Sort of.

"What _exactly_ is going on?!" Emma hissed to Regina a quietly as she could, a panicked look in her eye.

"What do you _think_ , Emma?" Regina replied at the same volume. "We're taking a bath. No telling when we'd next get the opportunity, so take advantage while you can. I can still use magic here… somehow. So don't worry about drying. But cleaning spells only go so far."

"You cannot be OK with this," said Emma, disbelieving.

"Do recall where _I_ was raised, my dear," she said with a far-too-casual shrug.

"Yes, and you were a queen, and raised a noble," Emma quietly argued. "Where I guarantee you there were _baths_ , and you didn't just go _skinny dipping_ in the nearest pond or lake, however magical, or not, they might have been!"

"Suck it up, Emma," Regina smirked. "I have nothing to hide. Do you?"

"You two," Xena interrupted them before Emma could form a response, "Take the first watch. Just keep an eye on our gear and keep an eye out for perverts. Shouldn't take too long. We should be in town before nightfall."

"Yeah, speaking of which, does the town not have any, um, bath house, or tubs, or… anything?" Emma asked in desperation.

"Not really," Xena answered.

"And if they did have private baths," Gabrielle explained, "that would be rather an exuberant expense. Not something we could afford, even for just one or two of us. Unless you have something that can conjure gold out of thin air, you're stuck with the poor man's bath, Emma."

Emma turned her desperate eyes on her magic-wielding companion, who merely gave her a nasty little smile and shook her head.

"What's the matter, Ms. Swan?" Regina 'innocently' questioned her. "Given your namesake, one would think that you would be rather at home in the water. Besides, I'm sure you have nothing to hide."

"Well excuse me if one of the few delinquencies I never got around to was _skinny dipping_!" she hissed at her soulmate, the both of them turning to give the three women from this time period some semblance of privacy.

"Your words, not mine, my dear," said Regina with a triumphant smile, turning her attention to the woods and area around them.

Down in the water, three nubile, muscular yet soft, naked, female bodies soaked and washed in the chilling cold, yet crisply refreshing, water. Fortunately it wasn't that cold, and the sun was still up, so the soak soon became quite pleasant. Well, for more than just the view anyway.

"Why are we helping these strangers, mother?" Eve asked. "I understand all too well about helping those that cannot help themselves, but… We are on a mission. And they were adamant about being left on their own, but we practically forced our help onto them."

"Ask Gabrielle," was Xena's stoic response.

"They needed our help," the blond defended herself against the two brunettes.

"Yes," Eve acknowledged before admonishing the older woman, "But they did not _want_ it. Not until you practically forced it onto them. I'd just like to understand why."

Gabrielle sighed and considered her answer while she worked the dirt out of her pores. After a beat or two, she confessed, "I don't actually know. But… some instinct told me that I could trust them. And you both heard it. Her name is Emma _Swan_. Part of our mission, which will help guide us, is that we have to find and protect a magic swan. Or, at least I think it's magic. All we heard was that we would meet a swan on our journey and we had to protect it."

"And given that it is the off season, there are no swans in this region right now," Xena said. "So you automatically assume that the first person we meet with the _name_ swan, means we have to protect _her_ , am I right?"

"It is a perfectly good rationalization," Gabrielle said. "Besides, don't you feel it too? That they're somehow familiar? Especially Regina. I mean, Emma's fun and we seem to have a bit in common, but… I don't know," she shook her head and rinsed her face, letting the water cascade all down her front, "Regina just strikes a chord in me. Like I know her from somewhere. But I'm sure we've never met. What about you, Xena?"

Grimacing, Xena finished the last of her scrubbing and picking and began examining and soothing any wounds she'd accumulated. "I agree with you about you and Emma having a few things in common, but… no, nothing about Regina. In fact, I feel kind of… blank when I look at her. I'll admit she's had a hard life and made some bad choices and it is clear she's working to redeem herself, but… when I look at her, my gut instinct just goes numb. So I'm reserving judgment until I get to know her better."

"What about with Emma?" Gabrielle asked. "What does your 'instinct' say about her?"

"Like I said," Xena answered, refusing to look at anyone, "You two have a lot in common."

"What about you, Eve?" the blond turned her attention to the other brunette in the water with her. "What is your opinion about our mystery travelers? Other than that we forced our help on them, that is."

Smiling at her 'aunt'/fellow mother, the reincarnation of Callisto carefully regarded her words before speaking. "I agree that they both seem… familiar, though I can't place it on what specifically. It is also clear that they both love the child they share, and that there is a love between them that they have yet to recognize. Emma… Emma in particular, she has a power, a… presence that seems almost soaked in Love, pardon the expression."

The other two soaked females merely smiled at her attempt at humor.

"Not romantic love, but… _Love_ , like the kind Eli taught about. The kind I'm still learning about," she bowed her head. "Even when she fought, actually fought those thugs from earlier, she did it in such a way that they couldn't die. And while she fought… vigorously, she never fought viciously. Anger was never a part of it. Merely her resolute determination to protect and help. I… admire her, a bit. Even more after hearing her story."

"Huh," Gabrielle grunted, finishing up herself. "I didn't notice that. Or feel it either, I guess. Odd."

"Regina actually reminds me a bit of you, mother," said Eve. "While Emma, her odd presence aside, rather reminds me of Gabrielle. At least, that's what _my_ instinct is telling me."

"Well, let's at least help them to Gabrielle's sorcerer friend," Xena decided, cataloging the information away for now. "Then we'll get back on mission. It's only a day or so out of our way, and Michael did say we had time."

"A _little_ time," Eve reminded them.

No more words were said as they got out and got dressed and changed places with Emma and Regina. Regina even was kind enough to use a bit of magic to dry them off quicker and keep their clothes from getting soaked through.

There was a small bit of an argument as Regina fought to get Emma completely undressed, as opposed to still wearing their loincloth equivalents all throughout the bathing. Whatever final argued statement won the day, the blond and brunette pair from the future were soon floating, naked, in the middle of the stream, where they could finally talk in, relative, privacy.

"Did you really have to tell them _everything_?" Regina grumbled, her teasing mood washed away now that they were away from prying eyes. Sort of.

"You saw her," Emma grumbled back. "You _know_ her. She's worse than a dog with a bone when it comes to learning about the people she meets. Hell, maybe she writes a story that somebody copyrights and it eventually turns into the story of Snow White and the Evil Queen? Hah!"

"Funny," Regina sarcastically commented. Then she noticed something. "Emma?"

"Yeah?" the focused and intent blond replied. She was trying to finish as fast as humanly possible so she could get back into her clothes.

"Why do you have your back turned, and why are you scrunched up so the waterline is above your neck?" the brunette casually asked, though there was some real concern in her tone.

"... No reason," came the subdued reply.

Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Regina huffed, physically pulling the blond around in the water to face her. And she was standing straight, so the waterline was… _not_ above her neck.

"Really, Ms. Swan," Regina started, then started again when she saw the way the blond's blue eyes went wide and then shut tight as she spun herself back around. "Emma. Please. Its nothing that both of us haven't seen before. We're both adult women. I believe you even made several crude jokes in the past about this sort of thing in the past, what with your history with the Department of Corrections."

"No, that was you and maybe Grumpy making the jokes," Emma replied, her eyes still shut and her neck still below the waterline. "And if you recall, Regina, neither one of us, _US_ , Emma and Regina, have seen the other naked before. And given my recent… confusion, it is _really_ not fair of you to pull something like this, Regina!"

"It's _bathing_ ," the dark-eyed brunette rolled her eyes again and had to restrain herself from throttling the nude blond before her. "Not, as you kept calling it, skinny dipping. And we are not a pair of hormonal teenagers that can't control ourselves the moment we see another's naked body. Please do try and get ahold of yourself, Ms. Swan."

Something, whether the words or the tone, but something in how Regina had spoken to her sparked an old flame of ire in Emma. And she turned back around, opened her fiery blue eyes, and stood up. Regina matched her glare with her own. And then the inevitable happened.

They both looked down.

Flushed crimson, they both spun around in the water and hunkered down and started 'bathing' as fast as they could.

"Back to back?" Regina suggested, embarrassed.

"Yep."

 _Continued..._


	7. Option A - Plans Made

Option A: _Plans Made_

"This is a stupid plan."

"It is better than your plan."

"You didn't let me come up with a plan! I have no plan!"

"Hence why it is better than your plan."

'Gabrielle' sighed and rolled her eyes. "We're going to mug my mother, and then come back and 'help her' by offering her a bigger score?"

'Xena', now in a mix between what Meg, Xena and the Evil Queen would wear with a plain cloak, tight leather pants, and a bust-enhancing corset/leather armor piece, let out her own sigh and replied, " _I'm_ going to mug her, and make a noise about needing her skills and then having her take the ring for 'our purposes'. Then you come in and we 'convince' her that helping us by stealing the ring is in her best interests, and then once we get her agreement, we explain about the party. We've done things like this hundreds of times, what is so different about now?"

"Xena and Gabrielle did this sort of thing hundreds of times," the blue-eyed blond grumbled. "Emma and Regina have only done something like this like… twice, maybe three times if you count what just happened with Rumple."

"I don't."

"Then we've only done it twice, when we conned the town into thinking you were still evil when I came back, and then when we tried to ambush your sister by telling everyone you were working on a cure. Every other time we've worked together, it has just been straight-forward working together. No conning involved."

"Well, third time's a charm," 'Xena' said in her fun-voice, which always meant mischief was afoot. Before 'Gabrielle' could do anything to stop her though, she'd already taken off across the way toward their mark, aka a troubled and hiding Snow White.

They quickly cornered the nervous fugitive, not that she knew she was cornered. Not until Xena stepped out from an alcove in her path and held out a sword at her side. Snow froze and stopped in her tracks. She tried to back away, but Gabrielle was there, hidden beneath a concealing cloak, stopping her mother's retreat with the point of a stick, not that Snow knew that at the time.

"What do you want?" Snow demanded, struggling not to show her fear.

"We know who you are," Gabrielle harshly whispered from behind her. "We know why you're here. You're trying to escape the Evil Queen and her reach."

"Then you are trying to collect the reward," she deduced. "You should know…" she tried to warn her would-be-muggers, but Xena interrupted her.

"That the Evil Queen cannot be trusted," the tall, dark-haired warrior-woman finished for her. "Yes. That is why we tracked you down. You see, we're also trying to escape this place. But we need your help in order to do that."

"My help?" Snow asked, surprised. "Why me? What can I do?"

"Funny you should ask," Xena said, grinning like a shark.

She sheathed her sword across her back and put her hands on her hips, facing Snow with the cloak half undone, revealing the outfit beneath. "I hear that you're good at stealing. You've been accused of lifting the purses of quite a few nobles and taking your pick of a number of treasuries throughout the Enchanted Forest. If even half of the rumors are true, you're the person that we need."

"You want me to steal something," Snow stated, frowning. "Why?"

"Why do we need you to steal it, or," Xena intimidated, "why should you steal for us? The latter reason should be all too obvious. Why we need you to steal it, well, that is where _what_ we need you to steal comes into play."

"And before that," Gabrielle said as she spun her mother around to face the blond in peasant clothes and cloak, wooden stick in hand, "we need to know that we can trust you. You're a Royal, or you were. You were raised on the whole concept of 'your word is your bond' and other ideals such as that. Give us your word that you'll steal this one thing, and we'll do away with the threats and everything."

Her frown deepened, but they could both tell that the thief princess was no longer afraid. She then crossed her arms and leaned against the alley wall, eyeballing the both of them. "What do you need me to steal?" she asked.

Xena and Gabrielle shot each other a questioning glance before finally coming to some silent agreement. "A ring," Xena answered.

"One that you actually would have acquired earlier today if you hadn't been spooked by some falling branches," Gabrielle added.

"What do you want with it?"

"Your word," Xena declared before her blond companion could say anything further.

"What," Snow repeated with greater emphasis, "do you want with it?"

"To stop a wedding," Gabrielle answered before Xena could stop her.

"Why?"

"Why are you trying to leave your kingdom?" she was asked in return, startling both Snow and Xena at the source of the question.

"I…" Snow was at a loss.

"Look," Xena quickly stepped in before any waterworks could start. "No threats, no blackmail, no intimidating. You want to get out of the Enchanted Forest, beyond the reach of the Evil Queen, yes?"

"Uh, y-yeah," Snow nodded her head.

"We can make sure that you end up on the path that you're meant to be on, where the Evil Queen ultimately is no longer a threat to you," she offered. "But in order to do that, we need you to steal that ring. Tonight."

"What is in it for you?" Snow asked, suspicious.

"Your word," they both demanded this time.

"Do I deliver this ring to you, or can I keep it?" she questioned.

"Keep it, sell it, try it on for all we care," Xena huffed with annoyed impatience. "All we care about is stopping the damn wedding."

"Why me?"

"No more questions, in or out?" Xena demanded.

Snow chewed on her lip for a bit before finally taking a deep breath and nodding her head. "Very well. I give you my word that I'll steal this ring. Now tell me what this is all about!"

"We already gave you the clues," Xena smirked, pulling Snow along so they'd leave the port by the quickest route that would take them to Midas's castle. "Not our fault if you're so…"

"You need to break into King Midas's castle and steal Prince James's engagement ring to Princess Abigail," Gabrielle interrupted before too much of 'Regina' could show through while in Snow's presence.

"Wait, what?!" Snow exclaimed.

"Now you see why we wanted your word before telling you the details," Xena smirked.

"Can either of you help?" she asked after they'd made it to the road toward the Midas kingdom. "I certainly wouldn't say no."

"I…" Gabrielle started to offer, but Xena interrupted her this time.

"We'll try and keep the guards off of you," she stated. "That is the best that we can offer. You're on your own for getting in, finding it, and then getting out."

"Fine," Snow said, put off by the dark-haired woman's abruptness. "Will I see either of you after this?"

"If everything goes the way it is supposed to," Gabrielle replied, "not for a very long time. If things go wrong…"

"We'll be there," Xena promised.

"All right then," Snow acknowledged before dashing ahead into the woods, pulling her hood further over her head. "See you… eventually then."

 _Continued..._


	8. Option B - Rest Before The Battle

Option B: _Rest Before The Battle_

Later that evening, the united group sat in a tavern inn that was en route to their ultimate destination of Balthazar's home, even if that was something of a detour for the Warrior Princess's party, in the time since their first meeting, Gabrielle had become more convinced than ever that Emma was the 'swan' they'd been sent to protect and safeguard. Eve also began to suspect that there was more to this time-lost couple than meets the eye, though she was not as quick to conclude they were the ones the heroes sought. Xena and Virgil just watched them like hawks, waiting for some sign of weakness or clue as to their true motives.

For Emma and Regina, however, it became something of a chore to not blurt out future and/or past information that neither of them had any business knowing about the group. Reputations aside, reincarnated memories provided a lot more detail than second and third-hand stories told via the bards of the day and age.

Not that they were exactly bursting to share, but there were moments when one or both of them 'forgot' that they were not from this time and did not belong in this place. A prime example of this was dinner itself and the conversations held around the tavern table.

"Oh, wow, this barbeque is to die for!" Emma confessed between bites of the ribs she was devouring with gusto.

"It's boar," Gabrielle told her with an amused grin.

"Still better than chimera," the younger blond replied after swallowing.

"Healthy appetite," Xena commented.

"She's a pig," Regina returned. "How she eats like that and stays so skinny, I will never understand."

"Special exercises," Emma said to, taking a break just long enough to clean off her mouth and to wash everything down with some mead.

"Oh, what kind of exercises?" Gabrielle asked, interested.

The younger blond smirked and shot her audience a mischievous grin before answering, "Kegel."

Regina went bright red, her breath hitched, and she couldn't properly explain why.

"What are key-gull exercises?" Virgil, innocent son of Joxer, asked.

Emma at least had the decency to blush at being caught in her attempt at levity, counting on none of the locals knowing the 'modern' terms of certain things. Little did she know that the translation spell Regina had cast on them 'filled in' for quite a lot, on both ends.

"They help a woman keep a man… in line," Xena saucily remarked, to both Eve's and Gabrielle's deep embarrassment. Regina wasn't exactly spared in that department either, unfortunately.

"What do you…? I don't want to know, do I?" Virgil changed his question at the last second. The women all shook their heads. "Right, never mind then." He went back to eating, as did Emma.

"So," Gabrielle tried to steer the conversation back toward their 'mission', "where do you two hail from? It must be a long way off if a magic portal was needed to get you here from there. What is it called?"

Emma glanced over at Regina, who shrugged in reply to the silent question. Taking another drink to buy time to craft a better response, the blond eventually answered, "We come from a town… uh, a village called Storybrooke. And yeah, you'd have to cross an ocean, at the least, to get to it. I'm just afraid that magic alone won't be able to help us get back there."

"Could always buy a ship," Xena suggested.

"If it were that simple," Regina sneered at the suggestion, "then we'd be dining at your mother's inn instead of this place."

Xena's steel-blue eyes flashed dangerously, but she didn't react beyond that. Instead she countered quite effectively, by saying, "So you're time travellers, huh? Been getting a lot of that recently. Probably why we've been sent to protect you."

"How… I mean, what makes you think that we're time travellers?" Regina tried to cover. "We could be from another realm."

"My mother's inn has been torn down," Xena casually commented, "Only way that we could visit it at all would be by going back into the past. You should be seeking out some oracles for the help of the gods, not bothering Balthazar. He's got enough on his plate, looking for that Prime Merlinian of his."

 _Oh shit_ , Emma thought, wincing as she finally 'remembered' who exactly Balthazar was supposed to be. She also remembered how much of an utter bastard the sorcerer could be at times, especially to 'strangers' needing his help.

And he was a little bit insane at that.

Regina seemed to have stumbled upon the same memories, but at the same time quickly realized that Balthazar would be a better ally to have in this situation than say, Rumpelstiltskin. The problem came in convincing him to actually help them out. The reformed Evil Queen silently dedicated a small number of her thoughts towards figuring out that conundrum, while the rest of her attention she refocused on her past life. The woman was more observant and cunning than most, so they couldn't afford to let little 'slights' like that go by anymore. They _really_ couldn't afford it.

A task that was immediately made infinitely more difficult by Gabrielle's next question.

"So, are you from the future or the past?" the Battling Bard innocently asked.

"Future," they both answered, knowing better than to try and hide it.

"So… that explains how you knew my father, and who I was?" Virgil asked.

"Uh, yeah," the Savior answered, not knowing what else to say to that.

"You've read my scrolls?" Gabrielle asked, a pleased smirk on her face.

"Something like that," Regina answered, trying to hid her own smirk by taking a sip from her tankard.

"Do we succeed in our mission?" Eve asked.

"Hah!" Emma barked, which thankfully was swallowed up by the general noise and shouts filling the rest of the bar at the time. "You're with Xena, the Warrior Princess, and you have to ask if you succeed in your mission? Hahaha!" she devolved into a giggling fit.

"Victory is never guaranteed," Xena admonished the young woman.

"Yeah, and neither is defeat," Emma replied. "So long as there is hope, anything is possible. My parents taught me that."

"That's funny," Gabrielle smiled, sharing a look with her own soulmate, "Xena's the one that taught me that."

Smiling back, Emma, probably more than a bit tipsy by this point as mead wasn't exactly lite beer, replied, "Gotcha one better. Gina here, she is that one that actually taught that lesson to my mom. Or was that the one about true love?"

"And with that, I think it is time for us to retire," the thoroughly embarrassed reformed Evil Queen declared. "Have rooms already been squared away?"

"I couldn't get five rooms," Virgil spoke up. "Mostly because this place only has four rooms total, two are for, er… private use?" They all nodded, indicating they understood what he meant. "The other two are generally reserved for passing nobles. There are other places throughout the village, but this was the cheapest with a stable attached to it. Most visitors tend to sleep with their horses, the Innkeeper said."

"Well then, we'll go ahead and camp out with the horses in the barn," Xena announced. "Besides, I don't think there are any rooms left. Here or elsewhere."

"Ugh, I think I'd rather sleep in the trees, thank you," Emma whined.

"It is past somebody's bed time, I think," Regina sighed and helped her companion to her feet. "Come along Miss… er, uh… come along Emma. I'll take care of the room."

"But we don't have any money…" she drunkenly pointed out. Now that she was on her feet and moving, the mead was really hitting her hard. So much for holding her liquor.

"I've got that taken care of," she said with a tired sigh as she helped her friend over to where the owner was squaring away things with another patron.

-~O~-

In the morning, Emma wasn't sure which was worse. The hangover, the early-morning-sun shining in her eyes, or the embarrassment of the state she found herself in upon awakening. At the moment, the embarrassment and hangover were at a tie with each other, although that could change at any moment.

Slowly opening her eyes, first thing she saw was the window of the room she'd slept in. A window without glass, and only rickety misshapen shutters to close it with. A room she'd never been in before. A bed… that was a pure wooden frame and what felt like _straw_ wrapped up in a wool sheet with a threadbare blanket of she-didn't- _want_ -to-know-what tossed on top of them.

Yeah, that was the other thing. _Them_.

Xena and Gabrielle slept together. Harry and Mattie, and later Annie and Mattie, slept together. The Mother of Peace and the Prince of India did not sleep together. Regina and Emma did _not_ sleep together!

Until today, it would seem.

At least their clothes were… uh, on the clothes rack next to the window… Uh oh.

Looking down at herself, Emma couldn't stop the reaction of grasping the shitty blanket and holding it tight over her nearly-nude body. Looking further down, she saw that the crappy cloth really didn't cover as much as it was supposed to. Also, Regina had _killer legs_!

Shifting slightly in the (surprisingly more comfortable than you'd think) bed, the blond discovered that she at least had her underwear still on. Which is to say just her white cotton boyshort panties. Her bra was hanging over with her tanktop work-shirt, jacket and jeans. She just hoped that her socks were still around here somewhere, she really didn't want to do all the walking and running they'd have to without socks on the inside of her work boots.

Her stirring seemed to have awoken her bed partner, who unfortunately she could only see had raven black hair and creamy skin. She'd assumed earlier, but in thinking things over this could just as easily be Xena as it could be Regina. Except Xena didn't really know or trust her enough to actually sleep in the same bed, as naked as she currently was. At least, not without a weapon or three.

"Uh, g'mornin'…?" Emma said to the brunette at her side… who was currently spooning into said side. "Uh… Regina?"

"Mm? Hm, oh, good morning Emma," the ex-Mayor of Storybrooke said tiredly, looking almost too irresistibly cute for words. "Hm, this is nice."

"... Regina?" Emma said after a lengthy enough silence that she feared her soulmate had fallen back asleep.

"Hm?" she moaned into Emma's neck, tickling her.

Fighting the giggles, and the shivers running all over her body, the blond sheriff struggled to come up with something-anything to say in this particular… situation. She decided to go with stating the obvious and then blundering her way through from there.

"Regina," she said again. "We're naked. Not that I exactly have a problem with that-with you, that is-but I thought you said that we don't do stuff like this anymore?"

The dark-haired woman's body tensed, she could feel it in more ways than just one. Then hands started to roam, or rather reach out and obviously was trying to identify surroundings and situation. Although, when said hands brushed past her breasts and down and across her belly, a part of Emma began to wish they were roaming for a more… fun reason. Alas, once Regina realized what she'd just done, the hands immediately stopped what they were doing and were pulled back like they'd been burned. And while the nearly-naked woman was certainly warming up, she doubted that her body temperature had reached that level quite yet.

"What, uh, what happened?" Regina asked, pulling her black hair out of her dark brown eyes in a tousled mess. Gods above, she really wanted to kiss her right then.

Huh, Emma momentarily mused. Had she always been… bi-curious, at the least, or full on bi-sexual as she was now? Or was it only because it was Regina, aka her soulmate? After all, she'd been very much into, and in love, with Hook and Neal respectively, and she definitely found the male physique, hmm… mouthwatering. And she didn't exactly go around sizing up other women. Ruby, for example, as hot as any woman in all of Storybrooke, and she hadn't looked twice at the sexy brunette. Maybe it was her past life memories? Or was it really that they were soulmates and her being the 'product of True Love' was kicking her 'friendship love' with Regina to the next level for some reason? Nevertheless, all of a sudden she really could just not get enough of Regina and these sapphic thoughts of her.

"I was hoping you could tell me," she finally replied to the other woman's question. "Last thing I can clearly remember is dinner last night in the tavern, which I am assuming we are still at after you somehow got us a room here. A very nice room, I must admit, considering what is 'standard' for this day and age. What about you?"

"I, uh… right," Regina sat up a bit, and then immediately slid back down when she noticed exactly how _not_ covered the pair of them were by the covers. (Pun intended)

"Miss Swan, where are our clothes?" she snapped, holding the ratty piece of cloth to her chest, forcing Emma to do the same with her half, lest it be pulled away. She was at least grateful that she still had her crimson silk bikini briefs on, though as with her bedmate, nothing else.

Emma nodded in the direction of the (thankfully) closed window, and the clothing rack next to it. "Over there. You don't remember taking me up to this room, undressing us for bed, and apparently falling asleep in the same bed?" she asked.

"Last thing I can clearly remember is bartering the room from the tavern keeper and… I think I might have been challenged to a drinking contest, or maybe a card game? I don't remember exactly. How is your hangover? At least I can be grateful that I didn't drink _that_ much. You were drinking the mead like it was soda. Or rum."

"Har-dee-har-har," Emma rolled her eyes at the dig at her and Hook. "So, if I was too out of it, and you didn't intentionally put us in bed together, in nothing but our underwear. Who did? And why?"

The answer was surprisingly swift, and came in the form of the door to their room slamming open and Xena, the Warrior Princess, storming in.

"Rise and shine! Rise and shine!" she crowed, grinning mercilessly down at the nearly-naked pair.

They stared at the warrior for a few moments, looked at each other for a longer few moments, and then back at the warrior. Emma started, "I'll rise," and Regina finished, "But I refuse to shine."

That brought Xena up short, as the simple phrase, which Gabrielle had occasionally tossed out on more than one occasion, especially when woken up a bit too early, but it struck a chord when these two said it. It reminded her of one particular village and one particular day a long, long time ago.

"Mind letting us get dressed without an audience at least?" Emma prompted after the silence continued past a minute or so.

"We move out in twenty minutes," Xena told them, her tone no longer jovial. "If you're not there and ready, we leave without you."

"Yeah sure," the blond grumbled.

"Hey!" Regina called just before her past-life reached the door. "Were you the one that put us in here? Like this?"

"That might have actually been Gabrielle," Xena shrugged. "Girl loves her pranks."

She then left and closed the door behind her.

"Yeah," Emma remarked, glaring at the back of Regina's head as she let the other woman finally take the ratty blanket for herself, while the blond took advantage of her long mane and used it for her own decency, for the short term. "Just not as much as certain others do."

"Believe me, if I had remembered any of this, I would've taken steps to prevent it," the brunette assured her. "Just… give me a minute here and I can have a spell ready to get us ready for the day in a few seconds."

"Assume that we don't have that minute," Emma said as she hurried over to the rack and hastily put her bra back on. "Speaking of, we need to talk about what… didn't happen here."

Whether it was the threat about not having enough time, or the dreaded words that kept getting batted back and forth between the two of them-repeatedly-but whatever the reason, moments after the words had left the Savior's mouth, the reformed Evil Queen had enough focus to magic their clothes back on, while simultaneously giving them the magical equivalent of a cold shower and hard scrubbing with steel bristles. It woke them up, kept them refreshed and not feeling like they were covered in filth, and it also kept Emma from continuing the conversation for a few minutes more.

"Let's just go and get to the barn already," Regina snapped, already moving toward the exit of the room. Her companion, now dressed (thankfully with socks in her boots) just sighed and followed along, keeping her peace for the time being.

 _Continued..._


End file.
